Saint Lucia’s’ Famous Carnival Wall Gets a Makeover.. and a Side of Drama

CASTRIES, Saint Lucia — Every year, Saint Lucia’s Carnival brings costumes, calypso, and the ritual repainting of the island’s most photographed piece of public art: the “Bum Bum Wall,” the low concrete barrier located directly opposite the Castries Comprehensive Secondary School where revellers famously line up to brrr bapp. But this year’s refresh came served with an unplanned subplot: accusations of hidden satanic imagery, a public spat with a soca star, and a masterclass in turning internet outrage into pure festival clout.

The trouble started while muralist Perry Baptiste’s vibrant, swirl heavy design was still a work in progress. Returning to the wall after an injury sidelined him last season, Baptiste’s vision for this year was straightforward: create an “explosion of color” that captured the raw essence of Carnival and outshone everything that came before it.

The internet, however, had other plans.

A local blogger posted that she could make out what looked like a goat’s head, Baphomet, the horned occult symbol, hidden in the wet paintwork. She urged fellow Christians to exercise “spiritual discernment” during the Carnival season, tagging her post #SpiritualDiscernment.

Around the same time, soca artist Lashley “Motto” Winter weighed in publicly on the unfinished mural, sharing photos of the work in progress and calling out the design.

Baptiste wasn’t about to let either claim slide. In a sharply worded Facebook post, he threw sarcastic shade at the supposed goat’s head, jokingly claiming it was just the legs of a Jamaican vendor’s tent behind the wall, a playful fabrication meant to mock the absurdity of the claim. He also brushed off suggestions that the artwork was AI generated, joking that the image was actually produced by “Day ban Jackass,”.

Turning his attention to Motto, Baptiste accused the soca star of trying to score clout at a working artist’s expense, describing the criticism as coming from a “soca Karen.” He didn’t stop at the mural either, taking a swipe at Motto’s music career and suggesting he’d have better luck at a beauty pageant than behind a microphone.

Behind the scenes, the early judgment only fueled Baptiste’s fire. “I had not finished the job, so my reaction was to lock in and ensure that the wall was well done,” Baptiste revealed. “It gave me that extra drive.”

Addressing Motto’s critique, Baptiste noted that while anyone has a right to an opinion, the timing was the real issue. “He posted the work before 25 percent progress was made and was treating it like a finished product,” Baptiste said. “He has a right to speak his mind… but it was uninformed. He never researched the competence of the artist whose work he criticized.”

Motto, for his part, chose not to escalate. He responded on Facebook with good humor, embracing Baptiste’s “mosquito” jab, pronouncing the finished wall simply “better,” and adding that “consistency is the KEY.”

The blogger behind the original Baphomet claim, however, wasn’t ready to let the matter go. In a follow up post, she clarified that her issue was never with Baptiste personally, but with the symbolism she believed the mural contained. She pushed back on his handling of the criticism, noting that rather than address her concerns, Baptiste had edited one of her photos to give her horns and devilish features. She closed her post with a prayer for him and an edited image casting herself as an angel facing down horned figures, captioned “When Light Exposes Darkness.”

When asked if he saw a difference between someone critiquing his art versus critiquing him personally, Baptiste didn’t buy the distinction. “The work comes from me, so since my intentions and capabilities are personal traits to some degree, she is critiquing both the art and me,” Baptiste said. “She seems like she is on a quest for attention… the Bum Bum Wall during Carnival is a magnet for clout chasers.”

Local creative Ted Sandiford eventually stepped in to offer a voice of reason, urging the public to slow down before jumping to conclusions. Sandiford argued that the mural is abstract art meant to be read differently by different viewers, much like seeing shapes in clouds or interpreting ink blot tests. More pointedly, Sandiford suggested that the image driving the “hidden goat” panic wasn’t the mural itself, but an AI altered version with a goat’s head inserted digitally, framing the hysteria as a lesson in verifying images before reacting to online rage bait.

Yet, as noisy as online chatter gets, the reality on the street is often far more unpredictable. For Baptiste, painting out in the open in the dead of night carries very real risks. Beyond the viral Facebook threads, the public nature of the project often leaves him vulnerable to late night confrontation from partygoers looking for trouble.

“It is usually a few drunk people reciting the narrative of clout chasers,” Baptiste explained, stressing why he feels obligated to stand his ground when online rumors bleed into real life interactions. “It is important for me to set an example about having no tolerance for blatant disrespect on and offline. Bro, people coming back from parties are usually the ones who start the trouble.”

He noted that alcohol often fuels unwarranted aggression toward roadside artists. “That’s what alcohol does to some people. They let it get the best of them. A lot of the time they don’t even have a point to make, they’re just looking for confrontation. And because I’m out there by the roadside painting, I’m an easy target. Simple as that.”

Despite the late night friction and online noise, the drama eventually reached a very Carnival style conclusion. After Motto posted a compliment to diffuse the situation, Baptiste spotted him in person right by the wall. Instead of tension, the two snapped a smiling photo together, pointing and posing for the camera.

“I needed to show that online disagreement does not need to turn into real life aggression,” Baptiste explained. “Respect to him for being mature enough to laugh it off.” Baptiste posted the photo online with a cheerful caption: “Guess who I see by the wall… me and di mosquito by the wall… there will be peace only after I win the war.”

At the end of the day, Baptiste views the wild back and forth as par for the course. “Carnival invokes more extreme reactions,” he admitted, adding that in the end, the viral spectacle “definitely helps the attention” on the finished piece.

Whether people see abstract passion, clever marketing, or a hidden goat in the swirls of color, the Bum Bum Wall has once again done what it does best: pulled the whole town into the noise, proving that in Saint Lucia, art and Carnival are always a full contact sport.