New Book Alert! Defiant Bodies: Making Queer Community in the Anglophone Caribbean

Mas Healing

Mas Healing is a space carved out by the CAISO team for healing using creative energy – through a 2-day workshop and communal preparation for Jouvay. The workshop was designed and facilitated by Angelique Nixon, Shaden Alexander, and Shalini Seereeram.

The workshop facilitates healing practices through mas making and skill sharing around self-care and community care. The main goal of Mas Healing is to encourage self-advocacy and empowerment for LGBTQI+ community members. Participants use their own creativity as a tool for self-expression, processing emotions, grounding and balance, and recharging the spirit. And participants are invited to play mas on Jouvay morning as a small group with the mas we create.

We completed two days of workshop (4th & 11th Feb) led by our creative and healing justice team (Angelique, Shaden, Shalini), who offered healing practices and artistic mas-making guidance. We chose horns as our headpieces because they are so symbolic of jouvay and also can be used to represent different aspects of ourselves. We co-created our CAISO Mas Camp space - as all of us worked on our jouvay mas designs - reflecting on jouvay as transformation and a space to release and express ourselves - engaging in communal creation and healing....