WE OUT HERE and Playing the Race Card are thrilled to partner with Hastings Traditional Jack in the Green, for the 2025 programme. Together, we look forward to celebrating creativity, culture, and community in this exciting collaboration.
Join us for an event that will bridge continents, cultures, and histories, celebrating the vibrant intersection of folk traditions, cultural resistance, and identity. Red Set Girls and Jack in the Green brings together researchers, musicians, and artists to explore how Caribbean and British folk traditions share a deep cultural legacy. Through the lens of visual art, music, and performance, this event pays homage to the historical illustrations of Isaac Mendes Belisario, focusing on his iconic depiction of the Red Set Girls and Jack in the Green.
Hosted by Lorna Hamilton-Brown RCA MBE, a respected artist, academic, and independent researcher, and founder of the WE OUT HERE project, the evening seeks to document and celebrate African Caribbean histories through art, storytelling, and culture.
Speakers and Presentations:
Claudine Eccleston
Get Set Girls – A Wasail from Hastings to Jamdown
Claudine Eccleston takes us on a fascinating journey through Isaac Mendes Belisario’s 1837 painting, exploring how Jamaica’s post-slavery culture mixed African, European, and Caribbean influences. She will reveal how the Red Set Girls, adorned in their vibrant, symbolic outfits, embody resilience and cultural pride. The presentation will also delve into Jonkonnu, the Jamaican festival rooted in resistance and subversion, drawing parallels to the Jack in the Green Festival.
Dr Tola Dabiri
A Stone in The Water – African Origins of Caribbean Mas
Dr. Dabiri uncovers the African origins of Caribbean Mas (Carnival), a rich tradition that began during the era of enslavement and still thrives today in vibrant forms like Sango, Jonkonnu, and Carnival. She will explore how these traditions connect Caribbean communities to their African roots.
S.I. Martin
A Universal Masquerade?
S.I. Martin examines the symbolic and subversive figure of Jack in the Green, which has appeared in both English May Day celebrations and Caribbean carnival traditions. Exploring its spiritual and playful roles, Martin will probe the shared origins of this figure across African, Caribbean, and British cultures and its revolutionary potential post-Emancipation.
Special Video Performances:
During the evening, we will present video performances by two exceptional folk artists:
Angeline Morrison was recently hailed as one of MOJO’s ‘voices taking folk into the future’;. She is a singer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter whose work combines a deep love of traditional song, a deep respect for the hidden ancestral voices of Old Albion, explorations and reimaginings of diaspora, nation and history, and a strong belief in magic and enchantment as powerful charms for decoloniality.
Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne, two-time Radio 2 Folk Award Nominee is at the forefront of his generation of English folk musicians as both a powerful and commanding singer and a masterful player of the Anglo concertina and melodeon.
Tickets: Book via The Hasting Museum and Art Galley website
Join us for this extraordinary evening that promises to be an inspiring celebration of resistance, cultural exchange, and folk heritage. We look forward to seeing you there for this unforgettable journey through art, music, and history.
Image Courtesy Yale Center for British Art, Red set Girls and Jack in the Green, Isaac Mendes Belisario, 1795-1849
This presentation will be recorded.
Donations on the door
This venue is accessible