Re: Calabash on Montserrat
2008-Jul-09-0830hrs
Call it serendipity or what you will. In 2006, not long after the first Calabash Festival on Montserrat, I was in Trinidad where, quite unplanned, I attended a Women's symposium at the Crown Plaza. There, as I looked through literature on display I came upon issue No. 1 of the MOTMOT Times out of Tobago. As I leafed through, an article about Noel Ducnan jumped out at me... here was someone who was a master calabash craftsman. The magazine was dated 1998 and Noel was from Tobago.
Back on Montserrat, knowing that I w ould be in Tobago for the Mausica Teachers' College Reunion, I made a mental note to find Noel. You know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and men? well when I got to Tobago Mr Duncan had moved on, but I was told that he still made visits to the island. I do not remember leaving a letter with my e address for him, but I must have, as some time later he e mailed me. By that time we were talking about the 3rd Festival and I was given the green light by the Montserrat Hospitality Association to dialogue with Mr Duncan who now lives in Switzerland!
To cut a long story short, Noel has just completed a 2 week calabash workshop on Montserrat. It has completely blown me away and made me "realise" myself as a calabash artist of some sort... still good way to go, but I feel empowered. One afternoon Noel showed me a picture of a turtle and handed me a chisel and half of a green calabash... he would not entertain my protests about not being able to handle the task so I gave in. Some time later, Florence, who chairs the Calabash Committee ,came along and said " Pat, you carved a turtle!" Since she had not been there earlier on, I felt good. Mausicans can relate to my comment in inverted commas... memories of the late Harry Joe who always challenged us to move out of our comfort zone and strive for better things. In addition to work on the green calabash, Noel taught the nimble fingered to plait hats and baskets out of Coconut leaves. I even learnt to make fish from the same material. There were also sessions on jewellery making for which Noel supplied quite a bit of material.
The workshops were very much centred on people's areas of interest and Noel was very flexible. He shared so much of the knowledge he has gained over the years, things you won't necessarily find in books. He taught us how to make an efficent tool for cleaning out the cut calabash in literally seconds ... from an old kitchen knife!. I could go on and on, but some what he taught us can be seen at the Calabash Exhibition from July 14th. The Festival runs from July 13th - 20th and everyone on Montserrat can take part in the various activities designed to provide something for every taste.
For those who would like to be here for the next festival, it will take place in July 2009 during the week which includes the 18th, anniversary of the start of the volcanic eruption.
Mausicans in Tobago or anyone else please pass a copy to MOTMOT Times or any other Tobago newspaper. We owe them a debt of gratitude . I hope the magazine is still alive. Pat Allum Ryan us can be seen at the Calabash exhibition which opens at The Montserrat National Trust on July 14th.
even learnt howto make fish from the same material
Pat Ryan
