PATH-TT Hosts First Stakeholder Meeting on Protecting Works of Mas

Protecting Works of Mas

Port of Spain, Trinidad — September 1, 2025 — The Protecting the Artistic Traditions of Trinidad and Tobago initiative (PATH-TT) convened its first virtual stakeholder meeting last Friday, drawing a diverse group of mas makers, cultural practitioners, and community leaders into an urgent conversation on safeguarding traditional Carnival practices as intellectual property.

The meeting highlighted the challenges faced by cultural creatives traditional performers whose images, costumes, and performances are commodified without proper recognition or compensation.

PATH-TT Co-Founder Nigel Trancoso framed the conversation with a powerful message about ownership:

“Your intellectual property is your property,” Trancoso asserted. “Nobody could come onto your land and do as they please. Nobody could come and take your property, your intellectual property, and do as they please.”

Nigel Trancoso - Co-Founder, PATH TT

He emphasized that while Trinidad and Tobago has gained international acclaim through Carnival, the artists and cultural icons at its heart are often excluded from economic and cultural benefits:

“If our traditional characters are being reproduced on stages, in advertisements, in movies, or even in mass tourism campaigns without permission or compensation, then we are being robbed in broad daylight. This meeting is about shifting that reality about putting cultural creatives at the center, where they belong.”

Attorney-at-Law and PATH-TT Co-Founder Shivanna Kitwaroo reinforced this sentiment, calling attention to the systemic neglect of creatives within the artistic and legal landscape:

“For too long, cultural workers have been undervalued,” Kitwaroo said. “We contribute our creativity, our sweat, our heritage yet too often we are taken for granted. PATH-TT is giving us a space to push back and to claim what is rightfully ours.”

She added that protecting creative rights is a matter not only of law but of cultural continuity:

“When our children see us treated with dignity for what we create, they are more likely to carry these traditions forward. If not, we risk losing the very soul of Carnival.”

PATH-TT outlined a program of practical engagement, including workshops, advocacy, and legal support. The next instalment will be a workshop for members of the Trinidad and Tobago Carnival Bands Association (TTCBA), slated for Saturday, September 6 at 10 a.m. at the Queen’s Park Savannah. The session aims to equip mas makers and bandleaders with knowledge and tools to document, register, and protect their creative works.

Nigel Trancoso and Shivanna Kitwaroo at PATH TT workshop

Friday’s meeting marks a turning point cultural creatives received not only validation, but a tangible opportunity to reclaim agency and build a sustainable future for traditional Mas.

About PATH-TT

PATH-TT is a non-profit Collective Management Organization dedicated to preserving Trinidad and Tobago’s cultural heritage by managing copyright for traditional Mas and artistic works.