A flurry of blood orange-colored peacock plumes erupted onto Dumaine Street at dusk on St. Joseph’s Day, as Black Masking Indian Big Chief Demond Melancon set out to seek rivals.
His feathered suit bore dizzyingly meticulous bead mosaics that took months to create. His eyes shone from beneath his headdress as if he were a medieval knight peering through the visor of a helmet.
As Melancon strode swiftly forward, a phalanx of photographers trotted around him. Someone in his entourage chanted “Somebody’s got to sew, sew, sew.”
Truer words couldn’t have been spoken. Melancon is a master of the art of Mardi Gras Indian suit-making, a medium based on needle and thread. His reputation is going global now as he prepares to display ceremonial garments at the Venice Biennale international art exhibition, an honor akin to winning an Oscar…