Stephen Weir articles, editorials and popular social media weir postings

Louis Saldana’s One Two Grand Parade Costume Punch by Stephen Weir Early last week, Louis Saldenah promised the Caribbean Camera that he was planning to put on a “HUGE Launch Party” on Saturday night. When the doors opened at his 2024 costume launch at the Grand Cinnamon Banquet & Convention Hall in Scarborough, it was obvious he had kept his word (and then some). SECTION TAKE A BOW AT SATURDAY'S COSTUME “We had approximately 1,100 people attend our costume launch last Saturday night,” Saldenah told the Caribbean Camera. And Saldenah hasn’t stopped thinking big. Tonight (Thursday), Part Two hits the boards with the official opening of the Saldenah Mas Camp in Scarborough. This year, Saldenah Carnival has over 15 sections, and most had males and females showing their stuff at Saturday night’s event. The theme for the evening was Sky High, so it was fitting that the models who came flying were, for the most part, bedecked in colourful feathers. KING COSMOS ON STAGE (RIGHT) There...

  Behind the Mask? Not Much. These Costumes are Sexy photos by Gilbert Medina Saturday night, Louis Saldenah, the force behind the Saldenah Carnival, unveiled his secret plans for what 5,000 or so masqueraders will wear on the road this August. Hoping for hot weather on parade day for the Toronto Caribbean Carnival, because behind those masks, there isn't much costume at all!  What a show it was, with sixteen sections showcasing models in skimpy carnival costumes in front of a packed hall at the Grand Cinnamon Banquet Hall (which holds 1,500 people). They wined, strutted, and posed until the wee hours of Sunday morning. The most in-demand DJ at carnival events this spring is a man who calls himself SKF. He kicked off the stage show late Saturday night by introducing the first section of the night, Ronny (Louis's son) Saldenah's Alter Ego.  In carnival talk, Alter Ego refers to people with split personalities or double lives. For parade purposes, the skimpy costumes are de...

  CANADIAN CARIBBEAN PHOTOGRAPHERS EXHIBITION Beyond The Carnival Before The Carnival At Station Gallery   “Beyond the Carnival 5” is the latest exhibition of photographs of the Canadian Caribbean Photographic Arts Collective (CCPAC) and is now on at the Station Gallery in Whitby. The show of photographs by seven well known Toronto photographs opened early this month and runs until July 2nd.  This show, the groups fifth, features the work of Jenny Baboolal (pictured above),   Anthony Berot, Ian Grant, Horace Thorne, Peter  Faure, Gilbert Medina and David Lewis.  There are more than 60 photographs hanging in the gallery which is located in the Iroquois Park Sports Centre at 1450 Henry Street in Whitby. CCPAC was founded in 2017 by Anthony Berot and Ian Grant. Its objectives include exhibiting the photographic works of the collective and creating a legacy that highlights the excellent work of Canadian Caribbean photographers.Their work has been...

CCAP photographers Beyond the Carnival Exhibition has Gone Beyond the Station Gallery Art Bites by Stephen Weir:  The Whitby Station Gallery has closed its gallery doors because of the Pandemic lock-down. However, that doesn’t mean that the non-profit public art gallery has forgotten about the Black History Month , in fact last week the Station Gallery opened, albeit virtually, Beyond the Carnival 4 a new photographic exhibition. “ This photographic exhibition brings together a group of photographers whose mission is to capture and present images that focus on the Pan-Caribbean culture and to create a legacy that highlights the excellent work of Canadian Caribbean photographers,” said gallery curator Olex Wlasenko. In lieu of the shut-down, Wlasenko has filmed a half-hour walk through the exhibition. This video is available on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/events/117228666896210/ . Beyond the Carnival 4 features the works of seven seasoned professionals who are members of...

The Junior King and Queen Showcase Comes To Malvern - Kiddies Parade To Follow Winning Queen Costume By Gilbert Medina for Caribbean Camera New venue. New vibe. New Super Cool costumes.   The Junior King and Queen Showcase was held outdoors on Sunday afternoon at the Malvern Town Centre in Scarborough.   The event attracted an estimated 2,000 people, many who stayed all afternoon to see the new big costumes that will be worn in this Saturday’s Children’s Parade. Over 30 children from the competing mas band camps took turns showing their stuff and their beautiful large bombastic   costumes.   By the end of the event, two children emerged as winners. Meet the new Junior King and Queen of Carnival, Miss Sadie Murphy from Carnival Nationz and Jalil Vincent Rampersad from Epic Carnival. The Queen wore a costume called Burrokeet Comes to Town and the King came as the Jester Grin. Despite this being the first time the Showcase has been held in Malvern (l...

Epic Carnival’s costume launch last Saturday has Freudian influenced sections for every revellers' inner dreams Story by Stephen Weir Photos By Gilbert Medina If Sigmund Freud had attended Saturday night’s Epic Carnival costume launch he’d probably would have said that it was an event that reached out not to his Ego, but to his Id.  The Id is that part of the  mind’s psyche, where innate instinctive impulses reside!  Epic’s moniker was Persona and the 500 people who attended were asked to choose the costumes they liked based on their own impulses! “We asked people to think about what their Persona is,” explained Epic’s Jerrol (Stretch), Augustine. What they saw on stage was our EPIC Carnival models portraying many different concepts of Persona. We wanted unique themes that captured the energy, passion, imagination and culture of our masqueraders. This year's focal point is image and self-expression. “ EPIC put a list together of possible persona and matc...