Ansel migrated, on a plane, from Trinidad to the UK in 1965 to earn, learn and then return. He earned, learnt but did not return.
Living in London for the past 58 years, he has been prominent in promoting the arts & culture of the Caribbean & this was recognised in 2012 with the Trinidad & Tobago London High Commission’s 50th Anniversary Award, a Time Out feature in October 2018 that adjudged Ansel as one of 50 Great Londoners & the CBE in October 2020 in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to art & culture.
He led a team in getting October designated as Black History Month UK and championed recognition of London’s Indo-Caribbean community. As Associate Editor of Hansib Publications Ltd, he edited manuscripts and wrote articles for publication.
For 40+ years, Ansel played pivotal roles in prompting, developing, managing and lecturing on Carnivals in the UK. He founded the Elimu Mas Academy, toured China for 11+ years, served on the governing body of other Carnival organisations & pioneered the introduction of Tassa, Moko Jumbies and fusions of classical music with Soca on the road.
Under his creative leadership, Elimu challenged the orthodoxy of the Carnival band and the cultural ecology of Carnival and championed the engagement with London’s Cosplay, Trans and LGBT+ communities and was the first Carnival band to feature in London Pride in 2022.
