Beads, sequins, feathers, silks and satin costumes bedazzle at the Mingei International Museum during the exciting exhibition of “Celebrate ¡Carnaval!.” Sounds of celebratory music, drum beats and dances are interactive on the video clips that bring the celebrations from Switzerland, Trinidad and Tobago, Spain, New Orleans, Venice, Brazil, Bolivia and Mexico to our doorstep. What a rich, colorful event this is, of joy and delight.
Carnaval history dates to the 12th century as a holiday period before the Christian fasting season begins. It is meant to be the last binge before the sobriety of Lent and is a time for debunking tradition, celebrating the change from winter into spring. Carnaval is also an opportunity for self-indulgence, make-believe, taking on the persona of others by mimicking authority and giving credence to be rowdy and carefree in spirit. The event becomes one of the most bizarre free shows on earth wherever it is celebrated.
The event is fun-filled, with mannequins dressed in colorful costumes of the country set against phenomenal larger-than-life photo murals that set the background for the street activities. The architecture of Venice is uniquely dramatic with narrow passageways and pedestrian bridges over the canals. Revelers use the buildings to remarkable and imaginative effect, including those posing as Doctors of the Plague, who wear black costumes from head to toe, and white face masks with elongated beaks filled with herbs to protect from disease. Medications are dispensed to patients extended on the end of a long stick. Carnevale events are open to anyone that wants to participate and wear a mask. Costumes are based on personal fantasy, and headdresses defy gravity and imagination. Carnevale was revived in Venice in 1981 after years of political interference.
In Basel, Switzerland, the celebration is called Fasnacht (fruitlessness) and goes on for three days beginning at 4 a.m. after Ash Wednesday. It is a fun-loving event and takes on a current political cause. In this exhibition, fun is poked at the U.S. because of its concern about the sizes of the holes in Swiss cheese and it is defined by an illuminated lantern in the exhibit pulled by costumers dressed as frolicking mice. In the evenings, groups in costume sing about current events while Waggis rubs confetti in people’s hair.
Tlaxcala is a tiny Mexican state neighboring on Puebla. The natives helped Cortez conquer Mexico, and revelers representing all classes of the citizens participate. Lower-class Mestizo cowboys wear chaps from goats, pretending to ride small wooden carved ponies in the parades to the Charros representing the upper-class who wear fancy clothing and whip their ropes around the ankles of each other. They cover their faces with pink-skinned masks portraying Caucasians. The El Catrine revelers masquerade as French dandies in tophats and tails carrying black umbrellas and dance with ladies also dressed in black and white. Their faces, too, are covered with a Caucasian mask.
Trinidad and Tobago are in the tropical West Indies of the Caribbean and have always been socially complicated and diverse. The indigenous peoples held festivals around harvests and other events, always wearing ritual dress that included pearls, gold ornaments, feathered headdresses and body paint. The masked stilt walker, Moco Jumbie, originated in West Africa, and the tradition was brought to the West Indies by African men. The stilt walkers dance to the music of steel drum bands and the drumming and dancing goes on day and night and continues until midnight, when Ash Wednesday begins and the revelers head for home.
The Carnaval celebration in Laza, Spain, is called “entroido” and includes many medieval traditions. It is a also a wild time of exuberance, uncontrolled and vulgar behavior beginning on Friday night before Lent, with people throwing ashes and soot from balconies onto street merrymakers. On Dirty Monday, men throw dirt filled with ants doused in vinegar, thistles, mud and ashes on the crowds. Young men masquerade as a “moreno” (bull’s head) and chase through the crowds lifting women’s skirts. The debauchery ends when ‘death’ is declared and a coffin is carried through the streets.
Activities from Carnaval in Oruro, Bolivia, and Recife and Olinda, Brazil and our own New Orleans Mardi Gras are also represented in the colorful pageantry of each country.
Come enjoy the event through Sept. 3 at the Mingei International Museum, Balboa Park. Closed Monday. Hours 10 a.m.- 4 p.m. Call (619) 239-0003 for further information and for docent tours.