Paint Like the Swallow Sings Calypso: a suitably ‘wild’ show

This exhibition about the carnival tradition in Britain is ‘rich in knowledge’ but ‘curiously joyless’

Paint Like the Swallow Sings Calypso at Kettle’s Yard
The show traces the pictorial history of carnival from the late Middle Ages to the present day
(Image credit: Jo Underhill)

“Largely courtesy of the nation’s Protestant heritage, the carnival tradition in Britain is a muted affair,” said Michael Prodger in The Times. Elsewhere, however, “the instinct for ritualised abandonment remains vibrant”: revellers from Venice to Brazil seize the opportunity to embrace “a world temporarily without rules” and “slough off daily cares” on the eve of Lent.

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