Under the Arches: A Story of Sunshine (Part One)
Sunshine International Arts | 2002–2025
The first thing you notice isn’t the colour. It’s the sound.
A deep metallic hum from above — the trains — rolling endlessly over the arches. A heartbeat of the city. And underneath that rhythm, something quieter, slower, more intentional began to grow. A pulse of culture. Of community. Of Carnival.
But the roots of this rhythm were planted long before the arches ever echoed with our laughter and labour.
Sunshine International Arts (S.i.A) began in 2002, sparked by a return from Rajasthan, where Artistic Director Ray Mahabir had immersed himself in the vibrant crafts and deep communal spirit of village life, he volunteered in a village called Mulana working on a skill development project till 2020. He didn’t just return with inspiration — he returned with purpose. To build something of his own. Something for others.
It wasn’t just about art. It was about the art of people. We’ve always believed that the word “artist” shouldn’t intimidate — it should invite. Everyone has something to bring, something to shape, something to share. Whether it’s their hands, their ideas, their memories — we welcome it all.
In those early years, Ray was working freelance — creating for others, building for others. But deep down, he was gathering the courage and vision to shape something bigger. A space not just to produce Carnival, but to protect it. To teach it. To live it.
That vision took a physical shape on 3rd May 2012, the day we stepped into the old railway arches at Loughborough Junction. Cold, cracked, and still bearing the scent of diesel and dust, the space was anything but glamorous. But we saw more. We saw a home. A sanctuary. A vessel for memory, movement, and sound. A place where culture could breathe and stretch and unfold on its own terms.
C.A.F.E — Carnival Arts For Everyone — was born in that moment. A small team with a big dream, carved straight from the soul of Carnival itself.
These arches weren’t perfect. They weren’t easy. But they were real. Raw. Honest. We began, slowly — just one-third of an arch, back in 2004. But as our work and community grew, so did our space. One arch became two, then three, then four. A living arts studio — built from scratch, against the grain, and under the rumble of trains.
We didn’t come here because it was trendy. We came because it was necessary. Space in London was rare and often out of reach. But these unpolished walls gave us room to grow.
Just like the old mas camps of Trinidad, where costumes were born on porches and kitchen tables, our arches became a modern-day mas camp — a place of invention, collaboration, and cultural resistance. Not just somewhere to work — but somewhere to belong.
We weren’t interested in just throwing events. We were committed to telling stories — stories woven in fabric, bent into wire, carried in baselines, and danced through struggle.
From the beginning, our purpose wasn’t performance — it was preservation. We wanted to amplify Caribbean voices and stories in a cultural landscape that often overlooked them. We wanted Carnival to be understood not just as feathers and sound systems, but as legacy. As resistance. As family. As joy.
Our work quickly expanded beyond the Caribbean roots, connecting with global Carnival traditions and the diverse communities around us in Lambeth and across the UK. This work wasn’t about dilution — it was about expansion. Inclusion. Making space for everyone to engage, to learn, and to bring their own culture into conversation with the richness of Carnival.
Since 2013, as an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation, we’ve worked with thousands — artists, families, schools, creatives — sparking change through creativity.
Sunshine Studios became the beating heart of it all. A home for our Notting Hill Carnival mas band for many years, it’s where we hosted exhibitions, rehearsals, and hundreds of workshops. Where we made something out of nothing — every single time.
We operated with intention. We knew our resources were limited, but we also knew that Carnival has always thrived on resourcefulness. On transformation. On turning scraps into splendour.
Even when arts funding was slashed and redevelopment crept toward our corner of South London, we stayed. And our community stayed with us — sewing, dancing, volunteering, showing up.
And then in 2017, sustainability became part of our very fabric. Literally. We began reusing, recycling, and reimagining materials across our work. A broken costume wasn’t an end — it was a beginning. We began to teach that too. That the circular economy isn’t a trend — it’s always been a Carnival tradition.
Continue to part two: https://www.sunshineiarts.co.uk/under-the-arches-a-story-of-sunshine-part-two/