MAS HEALING

Mas Healing is a space carved out by the CAISO team for healing using creative energy through a series of workshops. The 2023 workshop was designed and facilitated by Angelique Nixon, Shaden Alexander, Shalini Seereeram. The 2024 workshop was designed and facilitated by Angelique Nixon & Shaden Aexander.

The workshop facilitates healing practices through mas-making and skill-sharing around self-care and community care. The main goal of Mas Healing is to encourage self-advocacy and empowerment for LGBTQI+ community members. Participants use their own creativity as a tool for self-expression, processing emotions, grounding and balance, and recharging the spirit. And participants are invited to play mas on Jouvay morning as a small group with the mas we create.

For our first Mas Healing 2023, we completed two days of workshop (4th & 11th Feb) led by our creative and healing justice team (Angelique, Shaden, Shalini), who offered healing practices and artistic mas-making guidance. We chose horns as our headpieces because they are so symbolic of jouvay and also can be used to represent different aspects of ourselves. We co-created our CAISO Mas Camp space – as all of us worked on our jouvay mas designs – reflecting on jouvay as transformation and a space to release and express ourselves – engaging in communal creation and healing.

We invited CAISO team members, project partners, and stakeholders. These invitees were targeted because of limited space and envisioned as a co-creative and generative space with folks working towards or aligned with CAISO’s vision and mission. This workshop was made possible by Nikoli Attai who supported its co-creation, facilitation, and documentation.

For our second Mas Healing 2024, we held our two days of workshop on April 6th & 7th – after Carnival but still used Jouvay as our inspiration. We focused on nature and climate justice as it intersects with gender and sexual justice. Our liberation is connected to all struggles for gender, sexual, racial, economic, and ecological justice. Our experiences of marginalisation and oppression reflect the ways the environment and nature have been exploited and abused.

Participants were guided through a series of healing activities and creative practices to engage in self and community care, while also centring the earth and nature. Some activities included writing reflections, somatic healing exercises, and skill-sharing about plant and nature medicines. Facilitators guided participants in using paper mache, fabric, and paint to make their masks and to create messages through the masks.

We created masks and messages around healing for ourselves and the earth – using the elements of nature to activate and share what we want to represent through Jouvay (as a space of freedom, power, and creative self-expression). We shared invites broadly this year to LGBTQI+ community members, as well as CAISO team members, project partners, and stakeholders. The 2024 workshop was made possible by CAISO team members and operations support for co-creation, faciliation, and documentation.

Participant Feedback 2023

“It was a really wonderful to have our culture described in a way that reminded me of its transformative power. It was lovely to be around other queer people and feel comfortable in my skin. Engaging in creative work where I felt knowledgeable and where it was new helped me extend myself. I feel like stretching my capacity in a encouraging environment contributes to healing.”

“I liked the collective welcoming art space the most. My expectations were beyond met because the goals of the workshop were executed in even the small details like the affirmations, having refreshments, being supportive of each other, etc.”

“I enjoyed every aspect of it. I particularly liked that it was practical and creative.”

Participant Feedback 2024

Mas Healing 2024 was a unique experience. For the first time I was able to create art work while learning about climate and being more conscious and intentional.

I really enjoyed this opportunity to make a mask. Mas healing made me feel so connected with my ancestral roots and gave me a form of expression to acknowledge, and process how to resolve the tumultuous emotions I was feeling that weekend. My piece was not half as creative as others, but it felt “me”. I would not hesitate to encourage anyone to participate in the “Mas-Healing” workshops.

Work through love is art and art allows us to work through love. The Mas Healing 2024 was an exquisite experience of this in reality.