900ft mural honouring Calypso greats to be launched in Diego Martin

900-foot mural depicting the entire history of Calypso will be started, this Calypso History Month, in Cemetery Street in Covigne, Diego Martin, as part of the historic ‘Diego Martin- Home of Calypso Project’ that was launched in 2023.
In a statement, the Artists’ Coalition of Trinidad and Tobago (ACTT) said the Upper Cemetery Street Residents Association (USCRA), the estates of a number of Calypso legends, and other Diego Martin stakeholders are collaborating with the ACTT in this groundbreaking project.
The group said the project comes out of historical research showing Diego Martin’s bonafides as the "birthplace of Calypso", along with a series of startling intersections the new Borough has with Calypso history.
The group said the first gesture in this declaration will be the commencement of the 900-foot mural which is to be completed by March 2025, in time for Carnival 2025.
“The Mural will just be the first of many different initiatives that will be unveiled in the coming months and years to transform Diego Martin into an international Calypso Heritage destination.
“The intention is for the first stage of painting (200-feet) to begin during Calypso History Month in October to get student participation.
“However, for the next phase, about 400 feet of wall must be prepared by being plastered and reinforced alongside certain road-works that would need to be done by the Diego Martin Regional Corporation.
“This work should be started and completed by year end so that the entire 900-foot wall could be completed in time for Carnival 2025.”
The group said the mural will be a national and international tourist destination and will depict the entire history of the Calypso tradition from its roots in the Diego Martin slave plantations of the 1700s through its rise and explosion into a World Music in the 1900s.
“The mural will depict hundreds of Trinidad and Tobago’s greatest musical talents like Sparrow, Kitchener, Rudder, Rose, Super Blue, Shadow, Stalin, Machel, Spoiler, Attilah, Tiger, and more in a stunning timeline pageant of portraits in colour."
The group said the mural will be painted by some of Trinidad and Tobago’s greatest painters and muralists, whilst including school children, youth groups, elders, and more.


The group said the entire community will be encouraged to ‘put a hand’ in the process.
The group said the mural will transform the community of Covigne, particularly Cemetery Street, which has become desolate because of the dilapidated look of the unpainted wall which runs along almost its entire length.
The group said all members of the neighbourhood have already given their permissions for the historic mural to happen on their walls.
Meetings with the United Nations have also been had to discuss the larger Heritage implications of the project. The project has been endorsed by past Monarch David Rudder, as well as the estates of both the Mighty Sparrow and the Lord Kitchener.
ACTT president Rubadiri Victor said:
“The aim of the HOME OF CALYPSO Project is to attract up to 100,000 unique domestic and overseas visitors to Diego Martin annually- as well as other forms of tourism. This project could change the fate and face of Diego for the better and release multi-million-dollar entrepreneurial multipliers in the community.
“It would also assist in the rehabilitation of the collapsing hillside communities and delinquent boys- from Patna, Bagatelle, and Covigne, amongst others. Ultimately the ‘Home of Calypso’ project could contribute toward generating and circulating millions of dollars in foreign exchange within Diego Martin, surrounding communities, and Trinidad & Tobago as a whole.”
The group said Diego Martin was chosen as ‘The Home of Calypso’ following research conducted by Victor during a Commonwealth Foundation grant project.
The research revealed the following fascinating cluster of facts: The first 6 Calypsonians mentioned in the historical record came from slave plantations in Diego Martin.
One plantation in particular, the Begorrat plantation in Covigne, was seminally important to the establishment of the form.
The group said the first three Calypsonians ever, Gros Jean (1790-1820), So So, and Papa Cochon (who also happened to be a legendary obeahman), came from Diego Martin.
“The tomb of Gros Jean is located at the corner of Covigne Road and Richardson Street in Diego Martin at what was once the Bergorrat family cemetery.
“Calypso was 'born' in the Covigne caves beneath Begorrat's great house. That Calypso was born in a cave is an incredible Creation Myth! The network of caves is said to extend all the way to West coast beaches like Macqueripe where Begorrat was rumoured to have run contraband and illegal slaves.”
Victor said many of Calypso’s greatest Kings have taken up residence in the Diego Martin valley, including the Mighty Sparrow, the Lord Kitchener, Chalkdust, and David Rudder.
“The first ever crowned Calypso King (1939), “The Growling Tiger” was born in Diego Martin. 
“Many other Calypso legends have also called Diego Martin home: Brigo, Funny, Lord Superior, Denyse Plummer, Marcia Miranda, the duo Regeneration Now, and brass bandleader Roy Cape.
“One of the greatest writers of Calypso, the late Winsford Devine, also called Diego Martin home, alongside contemporary voices like Kerwyn Du Bois and Maximus Dan who were born there."
The largest archive of Trinidad and Tobago music and Calypso also exists in Diego - the Shawn Randoo collection. 
Randoo is also a first-class historian of the genre.
Victor said this is important as the two largest collections of Trinidadian and Calypso music both reside outside of Trinidad and Tobago. The first is located in Alaska with US historian and ex-judge Ray Funk. The second is located in Canada, recently sold by Trini-born Toronto native George Maharaj.
Victor said:
“That all of these important proponents of the Calypso artform have come to reside in Diego Martin, in the shadow of the Hills where Calypso was born, is amazing spiritual choreography.”
“Calypso is one of the ten root musical forms in the Western world, in a list that includes Blues, Rock, R&B, Reggae, Jazz, and more.
“The first Calypso recording was done in 1912- ‘Mango Vert’ by Loveys Band, making Calypso one of the oldest recorded pieces of music in the world, pre-dating Jazz by five years. 
“Calypso is also the mother-form for the music of the Caribbean basin as far north as New Orleans all the way down to the South American mainland. Reggae evolved from Calypso.
“Calypso also precipitated the rise of West African music like Hi-Life and was instrumental in the re-routing of West African music back to their ancestral roots.
“Calypso has profoundly influenced the trajectory of many forms of popular music from Disco, Afrobeat, Dancehall, and Reggaeton, to Afro Beats and EDM, etc. At the heart of all this is the power and always evolving majesty of the thing called Calypso.”
To contribute or keep updated on the project, follow “Diego Martin Home of Calypso on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100090180610072  
Anyone interested in the project can call or message 1-868-797-0949. (source:  the Loop, October 20, 2024)