FROM crossing the “big stage” to being honored on another, artist, designer and bandleader Rosalind Gabriel was yesterday awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters (DLitt) degree by the University of the West Indies (UWI), St Augustine campus. for her decades-long contribution to culture.
With over four decades of involvement in Carnival, 73-year-old Gabriel has created a legacy of hard work and creativity, particularly for her contributions to the Kiddies Carnival. According to The UWI, Gabriel’s love of carnival began as a child in the 1950s, as she watched groups of gangs pass by her Stone Street, Port of Spain, home on their streets.
In 1977, Gabriel made her debut in the costume design arena and the rest has been history since then, winning countless awards in both private and public competitions. Her children’s carnival creations alone have won more than 50 titles during her career, including big band of the year.
Humbled by the recognition received by UWI at the graduation ceremony for the Faculty of Social Sciences held at the Center of Excellence, Macoya, yesterday, Gabriel encouraged the graduates to go forward, break barriers and serve the country with grace and dignity.
She said: “Set your path for the future by working out your philosophy of life, your methods and how you plan to pass on your knowledge to those who will come after you. Now it’s your turn, you graduates of 2022, to go out and break barriers, to serve your country with grace and dignity. Service transcends age and gender!”
She also called on the UWI to create a certificate course in mass design, in addition to the Carnival studies program already offered, as she said it would be hugely beneficial to have future collaborations across the UWI and the Museum of Trinidad and Tobago (TTCM) in the areas of carnival arts entrepreneurship.
“This would be a useful platform from which to learn and enable our creators to monetize their skills and allow them to travel with appropriate certification to other countries to share knowledge and their skills in the global carnival arena,” she said.
In 2006, Gabriel was the recipient of the Mas Innovation Award from the Carnival Institute of Trinidad and Tobago.
In 2007, she received the Hummingbird Medal (Bronze) for Culture and in 2018 she received the Letter of Appointment to the board of commissioners of the National Carnival Commission.
Most recently, this year she became the manager of the Carnival Band Association of Trinidad and Tobago Carnival Museum, located in the First Citizens Foundation Building, Charlotte Street.
Good listener
In addition to her accolades and achievements as a woman in culture whose name is synonymous with Kiddies Carnival, Gabriel shared with the graduates yesterday that her methodology over the years in her personal life, business practice and culture has been to always extending a hand of friendship to everyone, greeting everyone with a smile, treating everyone fairly and being a good listener.
Most importantly, she said she learned the importance of being approachable so people aren’t afraid to come up to you and start a conversation.
She said that, as simple as it sounds, it has served her well as a carnival arts practitioner, cultural activist and creative entrepreneur.
“Being approachable led me to one of my most important principles, being able to pass on what I’ve learned over the years to the next generation or anyone who wants to learn or improve their skills.
“I took every opportunity to interact with students, answer questions, attend workshops, encourage school visits to my mass camp and accommodate as many visits as I could in a carnival season, she added.
She also said she was pleased to see that more than 70 percent of graduates from the Faculty of Social Sciences yesterday were women, as she recalled how limited opportunities were when she graduated from high school in 1964.
Despite this, she said she was obsessed with feeling that she had something to contribute to her country, and so she has and continues to live by the words: “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what it can you make room for him.”
And so, she encouraged graduates to ask themselves the same thing.
Her family, including her husband, son and daughters and their spouses, cheered her on with pride yesterday.
