The Notting Hill Carnival, which takes place in west London this weekend after a two-year pandemic hiatus, is getting a new art and architectural landmark. London-based artist Alvaro Barrington and South African-born architect Sumayya Vally will unveil a publicly accessible pavilion on the Great Western Road (August 28-29), reflecting the history and stories of carnival alongside the “mythologies , its rituals, its repositories, its identity and the legacy of hybridization,” say the pair.
Both worked at the Tabernacle site last year in Notting Hill. In a statement Barrington says: “When I saw Sumayya’s pavilion at the Serpentine last year [as part of the summer pavilion commission] I was very touched. There was a way people dealt with it. I felt really open and immediately wanted to work with Sumayya, so I asked her if she would help me figure out this carnival project.” As he explains Newspaper Artthey began to talk about the overlaps in their research and interest in “places of belonging and forms of community and the ways in which these places facilitated cultural production.”
In a statement about the work, Vally adds that “this project also takes the form of a procession”. Community members will put in the final pieces of the pyramid-shaped pavilion – seen as a work in progress – to make it complete. She says her practice is centered around amplifying and collaborating with multiple and diverse voices from many different histories. “This is a small gesture or offering to honor the elders and the origins of the resistance movements associated with Carnival.”
From left to right: Portrait of Sumayya Vally Photo: Michael Subotzky. © Sumayya Vally
Portrait of Alvaro Barrington Photo: Jeremiah Cumberbatch. © AlvaroBarrington
Barrington, who was born in Venezuela, has long been fascinated by carnivals. “There’s a long history of carnivalesques in the history of modern art, like Ernst Kirchner and his relationship with color,” he says, speaking of Newspaper Art. The pavilion also touches on migration, which “is an interesting conversation because it also includes the exchange of ideas”, adds the artist. A diasporic aspect also underpins the project, drawing on characters and places associated with Carnival beyond Notting Hill.
For Barrington: “Carnivals are one of the most complete places of artistic creation that exist,” however, “Unfortunately there have been some economic challenges in order for carnival to continue to be an artistic practice.”
A trust established by Barrington will fund the pavilion project. “Part of my paintings are about carnivals; we take a portion of the profits from the painting and put it towards a community trust. After engaging with many community members, we understand how that money can be used. This is one of the ways in which it is used. Creative culture tends to reproduce a 1% winner takes all model – basically one or two individuals are accredited for what is often counted as a community effort,” he says speaking to Newspaper Art.
In 2019, Barrington designed a cruise with the United Colors of Mas and Socaholic collective; for this year’s carnival, Barrington will present two performance trucks in collaboration with the Colors Carnival and Mangrove Mas Band organizations. The designs for each truck will feature a set of new paintings that celebrate the origins and communities of Carnival. Barrington is represented by Sadie Coles HQ and Thaddaeus Ropac.
