This past summer I was honoured to be part of Ring of Fire, a 300-person procession down University Ave to coincide with the Parapan Am Games. All participants were of different abilities. Each participant wore a costume and a beautiful mask. Trinidadian artist Marlon Griffith was the designer of these stunning pieces.
All the participants were broken into 7 groups. Each group represented one of the Grandfather Teachings; Wisdom, Love, Respect, Bravery, Honesty, Humility and Truth. There was also drumming and spoken word poetry. It was an amazing and humbling experience to witness hundreds of people lining the streets.
Last week an exhibit called Marlon Griffith: Symbols of Endurance opened at the Art Gallery of York University to showcase all of the masks and the process it took to come up with the designs for each teaching. There is also footage from that day. When I saw the exhibit, it brought be back to the excitement of that day. I remembered what it felt like to put my costume on for the first time.
Participating in something like that is such a great experience. I had such a great time I want to do it again!
You can check out this free exhibition until December 6, 2015!
Comments
Be the first to comment