We Mas was founded in 2011 by a group of friends who have a passion for developing and preserving Ole Mas and Traditional Mas in the UK They perform at Notting Hill Carnival on Sundays annually and are on the road with UKON forming the traditional element of UCOM.
We Mas is also the performing arm of UKON Careers and delivers seminars, tutorials, and various performances with UKON Careers. These also include the Annual Barking Carnival and the annual Trinidad and Tobago Carnival.
The performance at Barking and Dagenham Carnival was an international collaboration between Tracey Sankar and We Mas in which Tracey designed and created the Baby Doll Costumes in Trinidad which were shipped to the UK to be performed at Barking and Dagenham Carnival By We Mas.
To deliver the performance at Barking and Dagenham Carnival Tracey mentored We Mas remotely – online, so We Mas can perform the Baby Doll performance at Barking and Dagenham Carnival 2022
The Baby Doll character, a common sight during late 19th Century Carnival, is a satirical portrayal of a mother with an illegitimate baby. Often the masquerader portrays a gaily dressed younger woman, with a frilled dress exposing her legs, gloves, and a large poke bonnet or mob cap.
In all instances she carries a doll representing the illegitimate child.
The masquerader usually stops male passers-by and various audience members, accusing them of fathering the child, then embarrassing them into giving money for milk, clothing, other needs, and/or to simply cease her accusations.
In 2020, she designed and launched a Baby Doll band called Crick Crack Monkey that featured large, handmade dolls she called Born Divine.
Nearly three feet tall and sporting a range of skin tones and hair types, each doll carries prominent messages, like “Words Hurt,” “Not All Violence Is Physical,” and “Enough Is Enough,” embroidered in bright red thread on their limbs.
Using the highly publicized platform that Carnival offers, Sankar-Charleau uses the Born Divines to amplify the voices of the activists addressing issues around abuse, illegitimacy and much more.
Tracey Sankar of Crick Crack Traditional has Mentored and produced these amazing costumes for We Mas over the past few months so please welcome We Mas to portray an extension of the Born Divine line all the way from Trinidad.
