Anthea McGibbon, Gleaner Writer
Melisande Smith plays The Taino Woman, 'Atebe', pounding cassava to make bread at the Taino Village in the Outameni experience. - Photo by Lennie Little-White
JUST when you had cause to sing "Where has our culture gone, long time seeking", with the dancing Jonkunnus seemingly replaced by Santa Claus, our maypole seemingly replaced by plastic merry-go-rounds, Lennie Little-White and his team bring us an unforgettable experience.
Beckoned by the whistle blowing through the wind, the Sunday Arts team enters the village complex at Cooper's Pen, Trelawny. Suddenly, as if enchanted by the magic spell cast by the welcoming Jonkunnu dancers, our feet begin to tap soft beats on the pavement, as everyone becomes entranced in the 'Outameni Experience'.
No more are the visitors defined by their individual country or accents. All are now travellers through Jamaica's rich heritage, following the path set by Time Travellers, the tour guides.
The Outameni Experience, which begins in 'Di Hut', is a true demonstration of the power of art, combining its varied artistic genres to represent our culture. Interacting visitors are educated about Jamaican livelihoods, while being fully entertained through film, music, dance, song, painting, graphics and drama.
Worth the wait
Brainchild of Lennie Little-White, the project took about 10 years to materialise, according to architect Evan Williams of Design Collaborative. It was worth the wait.
The colourful building, painted largely in canary yellow, with hints of orange and olive green, reflects the glow of the Caribbean sun, which, through history, energised many Jamaican ancestors.
The complex, which houses six villages, is positioned across from an old sugar mill built in 1793, below the Orange Grove Estate Great House. All are set amid local flora, fauna and traditional trees, including the national lignum vitae and the breadfruit trees creating an indigenous Jamaican appeal. This is all topped off by a garden, which includes fever grass, banana, cocoa and June plum, under the watch of the resident donkey and a few goats.
The well-researched and presented information cleverly links Jamaica's past and present in a succinct, folk-culture educational package.
On site is Cheryl Ryman, who is responsible for the choreography and production. Costumes are the responsibility of Barry Moncrieffe and Pam Sutherland. The true-to-life installations throughout the villages are designed by Michael Lorde and constructed by Kirk Nunes and Atlan Lopez.
Gene Pearson, Philip Supersad, Roger Prince, Errol Diaz and Winston Patrick executed ceramic sculptures. Paintings, especially the murals, are the shared responsibility of painters including Kirk Nunez and Atlan Lopez.
The entire Outameni Experience is a guided tour through the six villages. That is after visitors have sweetened their palates with sugar cane shared by the Jonkunnu dancers.
In 'Di Hut', where the official tour begins, your Time Traveller briefs you on the African rhythm 'Follow Back a Mi' that must be chanted by all on tour to appease the rainbow spirits.
Decking the walls are numerous superbly finished masks, two by Philip Supersad, bringing the diverse ancestral spirits to a modern-day reality. Before going on, there is a brief ceremony in honour of the rainbow spirits who provide protection during the tour.
Each village underlines chief points of a particular historical periods, with appropriately clad natives reenacting relevant characters.
This is completed by video presentations, which educate on specific aspects of the people and cultures of the villages. Ronnie Thwaites plays the role of William Gordon, while Claude Clarke plays Paul Bogle in the video presentations.
The presentation on the Taino village describes the challenges of the Taino people as Jamaica's first inhabitants.
Taino god
The Taino village is the first stop on the tour of Jamaica's history. A sculpted, bronze warrior standing by a convincing fire and the murals are real enough to make one feel like rowing the canoe, or embracing 'Ateba', a Taino woman who offers us solar-dried pineapple. This is after she pounds cassava to make bammy for her husband who emerges from
the cave to examine the passersby. Not far away, Gene Pearson's sculpted Zemi represents a Taino god, and visitors are encouraged to give a financial contribution for blessings before going on to the chapel, which is next.
Paying due reverence in the chapel is a must before going on to learn of Christopher Columbus and the Spaniards voyaging to Jamaica, from Columbus' great-great-great-granddaughter, Isabelle Mariá. 'Isabelle', dressed in a red and white flamenco dress, dances outside the salon facing the harbour where an installation of a docked Santa María ship resides.
To get to the third village, the chanting of visitors is hushed, momentarily, as they take a daring journey through the belly of the slave ship, reliving the dreadful journey of African slaves across the Atlantic Ocean. Walking by stacks of dead bodies, while holding on to the railing for sure footing on the unleveled flooring, was frightening, especially when a toe or two on the seeming 'lifeless bodies', some sculpted, twitched.
Red-skin 'Busha' nigger
In the third village, a bruised Cudjoe - played by Philemon Wynter - tells his story near the gallows situated just outside the living quarters of the African slaves. It was hard to reckon with the recreated almost three-foot square cells set for the slaves. The larger five-by-seven-foot wattle and daub representations of houses for freed slaves did nothing to ease the painful memories evoked by these magnificent works of art.
A 'pompous and feisty' Busha spins the story of his 'Massa' in the scaled installation of a Georgian village, recounting the history of English property owners. The redhead actor, Mr. Cromwell 111 (Craig Gunter), although not in the usual knickers and high-top boots and plantation hat, is more than believable as the 'Busha' confronts visitors, accuses, barks and sharply bellows to the amusement of the fully absorbed guests. Ironically, this feistiness of the red-skin Busha nigger - offspring of the Backra slave owner and a slave chosen to rule the other slaves, but still unworthy to enter his father's house - is still present in some 'uptownies' today.
Classical music playing in the background, a change from the beat of African drums, sets the pace for the periods visited. On film, Brian Heap plays a Creole Englishman who boasts of his land, pointing to King's House, as visitors interact in a maypole dance in the centre of the 'built-up' square.
Afterwards, the meaning of the Indian Hosay is, literally, told from a Tazia before going on to the next village.
The 'Chinese and Indian village', demonstrating aspects of the lives of indentured labourers is next. The history of the Chinese and East Indians being brought over in circumstances similar to the slaves and the deviation to other uses when their physical strength waned, was a welcome lesson. Mrs. Chin sells almost anything at 'cheap cheap' prices to the slaves then, as Chinese merchants do to wider Jamaica today.
Bob Marley
The English village is next, followed by the 'Jamaica Today' village. Jamaica Today is memorable for a cross-section of visitors. In this village, Bob Marley is depicted and pan chicken and pork are sold to the side of a stage for concerts and 'Passa Passa' dances, where we are taught a few steps. The background to the stage is a huge mural showing the expansive range of cities where reggae music has travelled. A point of interest on the wall-to-wall mural is a Black Star Line ship.
The first of its kind in Jamaica, the Outameni Experience is welcome and the minor hiccups such as the explanation of the fretwork as one method of communication among slaves is almost forgivable.
One plus of the villages is the willingness of the citizens to share samples of the foods they ate and brought as much as the history of how certain trees made their way from far away lands to Jamaica.
Food samples include sweets from the Chinese village; tamarind balls from the Indians; solar-dried pineapple from the Tainos; grater cake from the Spanish, and Bustamante jaw bone from the Jamaica Today village.
At the end of the tour, the pathway wends its way to the gift shop, where unique souvenirs, made from material indigenous to Jamaica, are on sale. After that, it's a beach party treat with two of Jamaica's Reggae beach bums on 'Di Beach'.
Anthea McGibbon, a graduate of the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts has over 10 years' experience in the fields of journalism and the arts. Contact her at islandartattack@yahoo.co.uk or anthea.mcgibbon@gleanerjm.com.
