Carnival Calabar1 is an annual international event that occurs around Christmas time in the city of Calabar in Cross River State, Nigeria. The festivities offer a platform that displays cultural hybridity, translating Caribbean carnival aesthetics in a local context that values fun but also provides an avenue for addressing important social, cultural, and political issues. Carnival Calabar tells a story that is uniquely our own, full of joy, pain, triumph, and struggle. From the point of view of a costume designer, I will explain how the visual language of carnival links the conversation on migration and helps us to understand the past, present, and future.
Each year the state government, through the Carnival Commission, chooses a broad theme encompassing many stories that are first and foremost part of human experience, not limited to a specific time or culture. Themes over the years include: Carnival Queen (2005), Our Beauty, Our...