PROVIDENCE, R.I. — December 23, 2004 — The University of Rhode Island Feinstein Providence Campus is presenting CARNIVAL!, a mixed media exhibit exploring the Afro-Caribbean festival traditions also known as Carnavale, Mardi Gras and Rah-Rah.

Free and open to the public, the exhibit runs Jan. 12 through Feb. 25, 2005. A reception will be held on Jan. 28 from 4 to 8 p.m. featuring live music and dance performances at 7 p.m. in celebration of black history. The Providence Campus gallery is located at 80 Washington St. and is open Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The gallery is closed Sunday and holidays.

The Carnivale celebration developed from a combination of a pre-Lenten Christian festival and European pre-Christian (pagan) traditions that were blended with African and indigenous tribal rituals. The celebration was further transformed in the Diaspora with traditional ritual elements from the Caribbean, South and Central America to become a colorful, masked, costumed, musical dance celebration.

The exhibit includes photographs, paintings, sculpture, masks, costumes, musical instruments and artifacts from the following local and international artists. The cultural areas of their works presented are noted in parenthesis: Astrid of Greenville (Cuba), Jean Claude Blanc of Haiti (Haiti), Stephen L. Cabral of New Bedford, Mass. (New Orleans), Nilton Cardenas of Cranston (Peru), Paul Daglieri of Providence, Rafael Diaz of Warwick, Tamara Diaz formerly of Providence (Cuba), Felix Diclo of Providence (Dominican Republic), Ana Flores of Hope Valley (Cuba), Frank Leslie Hampton of New York (Barbados), Francisco Hernandez of Providence (Dominican Republic), Kerry LaClaire of Providence (Cuba), Fritzner Lamour of Haiti (Haiti), Robert Lima of Newport (Caribbean Islands), Tom Morrissey of Lincoln (Cuba), Munir D. Mohammed of Providence (Caribbean Islands, Africa), Lydia Perez of Warwick (Puerto Rico), Angel Quinonez of Providence (Cuba, Puerto Rico), Sidney Tillet of Providence (Argentina, New Orleans) , and Julia Vera of Worcester (Uruguay), and additional materials from the collections of The Peaceable Kingdom (African). Gladys Cordera Baker (Bolivia), Steven Pennell (Puerto Rico), and Nada Weisburg (Puerto Rico).

The exhibit is sponsored by the URI Feinstein Providence Campus Student Government Board. For more information call 401-277-5206.