Mas men grateful for recognition by CDC

Two prominenT masmen in St Vincent and the Grenadines were recently honoured by the Carnival Development Corporation (CDC) for their long standing contributions to Vincy Mas.{{more}}

Owen Ralph of Owen Ralph and the Professionals and Julian “Piling” Pollard of SVG Players International were awarded with tokens on July 9, during the Dimanche Gras show.

Pollard, who has over 40 years of experience in the business, told SEARCHLIGHT that it felt good to be recognized.

“I’ve been a part of Carnival for a really long time and although it’s little that we actually get, at least we recognize that it’s good,” Pollard said.

A young Pollard won his first band of the year title in 1974 with a presentation entitled “It’s Just my Imagination”, which he had designed for the late Roy Ralph.

Since then, the talented masman has been known to design for various mas bands, including Dragons, Melbourne Artisans, Hairoun Productions and Blondie Bird and Friends and has a number of Band of the Year titles under his belt, both locally and regionally.

This year, Pollard’s mas band, SVG Players International was awarded with the 50th Band of the Year title, something that he describes as “an important milestone”.

Ralph also expressed appreciation at having been honoured.

“I feel really glad about it, that the CDC can honour us. I hope that they keep it up for the generations to come,” he said. “I really appreciated it because I just love mas”.

The veteran mas maker, who hails from Sion Hill, has been in the business for almost 60 years. Ralph was reportedly known in primary school for his exceptional talent in art which transcended into his love for artistry and design.

Ralph has had a close association with Vincy Mas for most of his life and formed his own band, Owen Ralph and the Professionals in 1981, whose presentations often portray fantasy.

His 2013 presentation, “Shades of Colour” placed third in the Band of the Year Competition.

The masman is also known for his outstanding skills in art and has paintings on various topics of interest displayed at his studio in Sion Hill.