Mas Camp: behind-the-scenes Carnival drawings

This exhibition of my Notting Hill Carnival drawings is at Oliver Fisher Solicitors, 22 Aug-12 Sept 2024 (access via the firm or me).

I show the quieter side of Carnival as Elimu Mas Academy prepare at Paddington Arts. Towering alongside are Origin Moko Jumbies/Moko Somõkõw, stilt-walking West African forest spirits.

Some drawings depict Moko Jumbie workshops at the Yaa Centre organised by Carnival Village Trust and Elimu; others show the 2019 Launch of the Bands at the Tabernacle.

For access and spectacle, I'm grateful to Ansel Wong CBE, former Chair of Notting Hill Carnival Board and founder of Elimu Mas Academy; Helen Davenport (artist, sculptor, Carnival costume designer); Alan Vaughan (artist, costume designer, Moko Jumbie).

Bio:

One night at life class the teacher, Ron Best, suggested that I should sketch under the Westway. This led to drawing at Occupy camps, Crisis at Christmas and the UK Supreme Court, plus solo exhibitions in London and Oslo.  

Books: I have written and illustrated The Supreme Court: a Guide for Bears (2017), Catullus: Shibari Carmina (Carcanet, 2021) and Switch: The Complete Catullus (Carcanet, 2023). I've contributed to Design in Legal Education (Routledge, 2022), Women Re-Creating Classics (Bloomsbury, 2025), and publications including Proof, the journal of The Justice Gap.

Please scroll down for thumbnails from the exhibition.

Two yellow dresses: Windrush costume design/Gema Ensenat, 2018

   

Alan Vaughan and Stephanie Kanhai

 

Day of the Dead costume design: Helen Davenport (applying make-up), 2018