Courtesy of: The Morning News
By Rosalie Klein
ORANJESTAD — What begun as a school project 15 years ago, has become the “bible” to which most islanders turn to find out what is happening over the months of this grand celebration. It is a fantastic source for fully understanding Aruba’s most important cultural event. It is only fitting to pay tribute to this enormous effort and dedication to this beautiful publication during this Diamond Jubilee Carnival year.
The magazine “Bacchanal,” the island’s official magazine of Carnival, is a manifestation of the artistic talent and single-handed devotion to carnival by Friedrich (Chibi) van der Hans, designer, photographer, editor and publisher. He originally created the magazine to be his graduation thesis while attending the Minerva Art Academy in Groningen, Holland in 1995, where he obtained degrees in Graphic Art and Photography.
“I chose to make a magazine of carnival as my thesis because I wished to create a medium to best introduce to Holland something of Aruba” he explains. “I can think of nothing better than carnival to do so, as it has everything that sums up all aspects of island culture. It demonstrates every phase of the arts, visual and performing. There is original musical composition and choreography, fashion design and creative art in the construction of trailers and costumes; every artful discipline is represented; even comedy and drama during the Prins & Pancho elections. Carnival is a huge achievement, with the process and enormous effort repeated year after year.”
“I also felt that such a magazine was needed to truly recognize and acknowledge those groups and individuals who dedicate so much time, work and creatively to the institution. To my knowledge, there was no publication that created a tangible history of each year’s carnival prior to my first issue.”
Chibi also initiated what has become a beloved tradition: inaugurating carnival at 11/11/11, when members of SAC, the Stichting Arubaanse Carnival, which administrates events, officially opens the coming season at 11:00 AM on the eleventh day of November, the eleventh month of the year. In numerology it is date considered to carry great luck, and celebrating on this day the start of carnival dates back centuries to German history. After researching this, Chibi’s findings were reinforced by then President of SAC, Milio Croes, and the first Bacchanal was launched on that date in 1998.
Bacchanal is distributed for free at most gas stations, stationary stores and can be found at the offices of any of the advertisers. Chibi informs there are still a few copies left for this year’s edition, and he can be contacted at 582-4868 to obtain issues. Aside from a complete schedule of all upcoming events, it imparts a lively history of the various parades, carnival royalty elections and music contests, in both Papiamento and English. This makes it an ideal medium for vacationers to truly understand and appreciate the importance of various events.
After sixteen years of publishing Bacchanal, Chibi is only looking to make it bigger and better. His Carnival 60 edition was unveiled during a gala fashion event at the Westin Resort as the grand finale of the Aruba In Style 2013 Fashion Week. The organizers of Aruba in Style felt Bacchanal has had a definitive influence on Aruba’s carnival, just as carnival has influenced the island’s vibrant fashion sense.
Future plans for the publication include a website, which will also include a photo gallery of the current contests and parades. He plans to work with the carnival groups so that interested parties can also inscribe to join in carnival from his website. Additionally, he was selected as part of the committee charged with establishing an official carnival museum in San Nicolas, by Minister Mike de Meza, who initiated the Carnival Village project.
In Chibi’s opinion, interest and enthusiasm for Aruba’s carnival is unflagging. Each year it grows with new events, and he looks forward to chronicling each and every one.
