MASKS FROM EUROPE: THE HOUSE OF WORLD CULTURES HAS ITS CARNIVAL<

Despite the surge of events related to modernity, masks remain and masked representations continue. Making a mask, putting it on, corresponds to a series of gestures of defense and protection. The evils that weaken or destroy Man: death, disease, war, lies, betrayal, represented by characters with exaggerated characters, often grotesque, provoking on the individual or the group the fear of the monstrous or laughter liberator – are thus weakened or destroyed.

The mask plays, dances, pursues its fictitious or real prey, then ends its short seasonal life, at the stake or in the waves of a river. Guarantors of the good health of a society, the masks, supports of collective or individual creations, continue their life in the weft of dreams.

MASCARADES

Masquerades take place every winter, all over Europe. Despite the great diversity of these festivals, constants unite them.

Most often, masked people go from house to house to cheer people up in their homes with music, songs, dances, and personalized wishes. They are offered in return some food and drinks, even money.

The village square hosts fictitious ploughing, scenes of death and coming back to life, comic games of transvestite marriages, grotesque sexual acts, improbable births… Young women are generally chased by masked characters who try to catch them, carry them or chew them (mark the face with a black trace).

Sometimes, a trial in public places condemns to death the Carnival character deemed responsible for the dysfunctions of society. The actions of neighbors and people across the world are publicly ridiculed. A large bonfire is often required to close the events, in which the Carnival character is burned.

While masks were once worn exclusively by young single men, today masked groups are mixed in age and gender. Interactions with people without masks or costumes remain at the heart of the party.

Even if there are similarities between the different festivals, each town or village has its own emblematic character or characters, with a distinctive appearance, which maintains a sense of local pride. Behind the masks and costumes hides a production work that sometimes lasts all year round, and which uses infinite imagination and techniques.

PETASSOUS, FOOLIES AND BUFFONSStories of breaths

In Occitan, scraps of fabric are called pétaç. The term also qualifies rags or rags. Petassou, in the south of France, is the name given to an emblematic carnival figure, all or part of whose costume is made up of mismatched strips of fabric. Similar characters exist in many European carnivals under other names evoking fabric scraps or that of the local festival.

Petassou is linked to ancient rural rites. When the masquerades move to the cities from the 14th century, the character is adapted to this new environment. He then becomes the jester or the carnival fool. The latter have only kept the colorful costume and a few bells. Jesters and fools embody the same character, as evidenced by their etymology: jester comes from bufar, "to blow" in langue d'oc, and fool, from the Latin follis, "bellows".

If Petassou seems to swell when he jumps or runs, the madmen, on the other hand, use the bellows. Both can also be decked out with a pig's bladder inflated like a balloon. In the past, these characters assumed the important role of circulating the breaths, at the end of winter, and bringing back life. All the breaths count in this vital renewal: the accessories that inflate and deflate, the laughter that agitates the body, or the bellies that relieve themselves of the effects of too fatty foods.

WOODEN MASKS OF THE ALPS

The “Consorzio Mascherai Alpini”, the association of wooden mask sculptors from the Alps, was founded in 2002 in northern Italy. It brings together sculptors of carnival masks from Italy, Austria, Slovenia and Switzerland. The members of the association regularly discuss their techniques, enrich their knowledge, while seeking to enhance the cultural identity specific to each tradition.

Wood is a versatile material that allows all kinds of shapes, looks and finishes. In addition to the characters of each character, the treatment of the sculpture differs. Faces can be realistic as well as stylized; thus, the characters present either a natural aspect, close to the dimensions of a face, or a grotesque and disproportionate aspect. The wood, raw or colored, is sometimes worked in order to obtain a smooth finish, but sometimes the traces of the tool remain visible. Sometimes various materials are added.

CARVED WOOD

Wood is one of the simplest materials for making masks. The techniques used vary according to the region or the craftsman. The working position illustrates these differences in practice: flat, on a workbench or a wooden block, inclined on an easel or vertically, the sculptor finding himself face-to-face with his future character.

While the gouge remains the most used tool, some prefer an older instrument, the adze, and only use the gouge for finishing touches. Some make their masks with a plane, wedged on a planing bench (a technique derived from carpentry), while others are content with a penknife.

Power tools: chainsaw, band saw, milling machine… generally make it possible to do most of the cutting. As for the wood, the species must be abundant locally, not have too many irregularities or knots, and if possible be light and fairly soft. In most regions, the wood is prepared as in carpentry: it is dried for several years, or even steamed (drying in moist heat) for certain species such as alder. As it dries, the wood deforms and shrinks irregularly, which can cause cracks.

Using seasoned wood ensures a stable material that will no longer warp. However, some craftsmen work with green wood, freshly cut from the tree. The shape of the mask is then roughly cut out and hollowed out. It is this draft that is left to dry for just a few weeks. The wood does not crack because it is thin, and the heart is removed from it, but it can still slightly deform, which is why the finishes are done after the mask is dry.

THE ASSEMBLED MATERIALS

The volume of the mask can be directly formed from a flexible material such as fabric, sheet metal, leather, or animal skin. It is then decorated with specific materials and patterns.

As with clothing, the seams are made by hand or by machine. Thick materials are sewn using leatherwork techniques. Certain parts can also be assembled by gluing, rivets or other methods of attachment.

The material used can constitute the volume on its own, or be placed on a rigid structure, such as metal wire, or on a base, such as a helmet or a hat.

The mask is then decorated with elements of animal or plant origin (horns, furs, feathers, foliage, etc.), ribbons, fake flowers, paper, beads or junk jewelry, pompoms, etc. .

BONDED MATERIALS

Among the oldest methods of making masks, we find the use of fine and flexible materials in superimposed layers, hardened with glue, and shaped on or in a mold. Archaeological traces suggest that this was done several centuries before our era; but the materials used have certainly evolved over time.

The most common basic material these days is paper, or a special cardboard for papier-mâché, glued and hardened with white glue, flour glue or according to other recipes. This technique was used in particular for inexpensive carnival costumes in the 19th century and until the arrival of plastic masks.

Some masks are made of fabric stiffened by strong glue or wax. Wax and pressed fabric masks were, like paper masks before the advent of plastics, common disguise masks.

Regardless of the material used, a support is needed to give the mask its shape. It can be a positive mould, which has the desired shape in volume, a negative mold with the hollow shape, or a press mould, made up of a positive and a negative which squeeze the material to give it its form. Without a mould, the sculpture rests on light forms which will remain in the mask.

NEW MATERIALS

While masks are often made of recycled materials, it sometimes seems easier these days to buy specific materials, offering greater ease or speed of implementation, or better final resistance.

New masks are invented in particular from plaster bandages, resins, thermoformable plastics. The latter require a suitable machine in the workshops of craft mask makers.

But it is also sometimes commercial industrial masks that serve as a base by being reworked, decorated, adapted to create the desired character.

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DRESSING

The mask is only a small part of the character. This can only be identified when it is complete, that is to say by all the elements correctly assembled: the mask, the headdress, the clothes with their many details and ornaments, the bells, and an object specific to the hand (whip, pig's bladder, decorated stick, brooms, giant pliers, etc.).

Dressing time is therefore essential and every detail counts: you have to secure the heavy piece of costume so that it does not slip in the race, protect the skin from the blows of the big bells, belt effectively and nicely so that we do not see the complexity of the fasteners, fix the edge of the scarf so that it does not rise, check each accessory of the adornment.

The ritual of dressing, often technical and complex, is carried out with the family, or sometimes within groups with the help of the oldest and connoisseurs. Women and mothers examine details and fixings. During this convivial time, family and friends are invited to share the dressing, but also to eat and drink.

And the party begins!

From June 19 to November 21, 2021, European Masks – Imaginary Skills at the Maison des cultures du monde, Vitré.

AROUND THE EXHIBITION

WEDNESDAY WORKSHOPS (FROM 6 YEARS OLD)Visit followed by a creative workshopEvery Wednesday from July 21 to August 25, from 2.30 p.m. to 4 p.m. • Duration: 1.5 hours • 5 children maximumPrice: €4 | Reservation essential• Make your carnival mask!Wednesdays July 21, August 4 and 18Apprentice artisans will draw inspiration from emblematic characters of European carnivals to make their own masks.• Make your own carnival puppet!Wednesdays July 28, August 11 and 25At the using fabrics, felt and paint, participants will recreate miniature masked and costumed characters. Registration requiredGUIDED TOURS AND ENTERTAINMENT ON REQUEST FOR GROUPSPrices: contact us | Reservation required no later than 7 days before the desired date.

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

Maison des Cultures du Monde – French Center for Intangible Cultural Heritage2 rue des Bénédictins – 35500 VitréBy train 1h30 from Paris by TGV / 30 min. from RennesBy car 30 min. Rennes / free and paid car parks in the city center