Brian Mac Farlane

Brian Mac Farlane is a leading Trinidad and Tobago mas designer and bandleader whose costumes and themed bands transform Carnival into large-scale street theatre. Born in Trinidad and Tobago in 1957, Mac Farlane grew up in the Port of Spain area and entered mas production as a teenager through work with designer Raoul Garib, learning the craft by working rather than through formal training. Designer Christopher Santos was another early influence on his development.

Mac Farlane's breakthrough came in 1994 when Anthony Paul portrayed *The Conquest—The Slaying of Medusa*, a monumental costume design that won King of Carnival and Best Designer honors. This achievement established him in the King-and-Queen arena, where a costume must function as both sculptural form and a moving extension of its masquerader. In 2000, he designed Rosalind Gabriel's junior-queen costume *Exodus: The Power and the Glory*, a structure whose visual configuration changed as the performer moved—an unusually direct fusion of costume design and choreography.

In 2005, Mac Farlane launched his first full band, *The Washing by Fire, by Water*, winning the medium-band title. Subsequent presentations—*India: The Story of Boyie* and the environmentally themed *Earth: Cries of Despair, Wings of Hope*—placed narrative, social commentary, hand fabrication, and theatre at the center of Carnival mas. His bands are built for collective performance: sections of masqueraders carry color, material, character, and rhythm through the streets, while Kings and Queens animate towering structures. A 2010 *King Sailor* costume now documented at the Musical Instrument Museum demonstrates how glass, metal, textiles, feathers, and synthetics create volume that fully reads around a moving body.

Trinidad and Tobago awarded Mac Farlane the Chaconia Medal Gold in 2010, recognizing his contributions to national culture. His work has extended beyond annual band production to state ceremonies, international cultural presentation, and theatre. After stepping away from annual band production, he returned for a special 2017 presentation centered on Trinidad and Tobago's built heritage, demonstrating how he uses mas to stage national memory.