Notting Hill Carnival Strategic Review - Intelligent Space

steel-band classes for their pupils. By the late 1970s, Forsythe and Frank Rollock of the
London Allstars had formed the Pan Teachers Association (PTA) to promote pan teaching in
schools. In 1975, there were over fifty schools had steel bands and in the same year, the PTA
received recognition from the Greater London Council (GLC). In 1978, Forsythe was
appointed steel-band organiser for schools and within twelve years, the number of schools
with steel bands had risen to 160. For his part, Frank Rollock, who taught steel-pan at
secondary schools in London, wanted to form an ILEA steel-band orchestra. He approached
Audrey Dennett (ILEA Head of Music) who was instrumental in obtaining funds for it. Rollock
selected the best players from London schools and they appeared at the Commonwealth
Institute.
Mainstreaming Carnival Arts in Higher Education
4.35 In 1986, Ruth Tompsett, a senior lecturer at Middlesex University, introduced Carnival Studies
as part of the university’s performing arts degree. It was not initially greeted with much
enthusiasm “higher up the academic scale” but, as Tompsett remarked at a meeting organised
by the Carnival Review Group, these views merely “reflected establishment feeling and
thinking of the time.” Sixteen years later, Middlesex University has a substantial carnival
archive and university staff receive calls from all over the world from researchers and
journalists who want to know more about it. Tompsett has observed that, “People are
studying the Notting Hill Carnival and it has moved from something that was peripheral and
derided to where it has showed itself utterly worthy from the grassroots to the top.” If
Carnival is to take its place in academia, it will need a course in its own right and that will take
time. It is something that Tompsett, who has become the unofficial point of call for carnival
matters and the recipient of theses from students can confirm, “We know that we still have a
way to go to convince people about Carnival arts.”
4.36 Research continually shows that it is important for teaching staff to embrace other cultures
and move away from a ‘colour blind’ approach where the cultures of minority groups are often
ignored or undervalued. In the case of the carnival arts, the Review Group were provided with
numerous examples of best practice in terms of how educational study could be enriched
through the introduction of carnival-related arts and study. Those committed to its teaching
and practice have made several attempts to initiate positive discussion in academic circles:
4.36.1 The first academic conference on Carnival in Britain, ‘Catch the Spirit: A Carnival Arts
Conference’, was held at the Museum of London in 1997 by Ruth Tompsett at
Middlesex University. Sponsored jointly by the Arts Council and Middlesex
University, the conference offered a critique of Carnival Arts education,
development, performance and practice. One of the key conference outcomes was
the preparation of a Safety Fact Sheet for Carnival and an exhibition of the winning
carnival costumes at the Museum of London. During the same year, the music
department at Leeds University held a conference entitled, ‘The Ethnic in Music.’
4.36.2 In 2000 Goldsmiths College held a conference with a workshop on ‘carnivalised
discourse’ with a contribution from Dr Viv Golding who has been responsible for
promoting Carnival education workshops at the Horniman Museum. The Caribbean
Centre at Goldsmiths College is also currently considering the introduction of a
proposed postgraduate course in ‘Carnival Arts and Caribbean Poetics’ as an
interdisciplinary MA. The MA would be taught by practising Carnival artists and visits
would be organised from well known carnivalists, reflecting the cultural diversity of
London. Dr Joan Anim Addo, head of the Caribbean Centre has pointed to the rich
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