What To Do In Florence: Making Masks For Carnevale

This past Sunday, our school gave us the opportunity to go to the famous Carnival in Viareggio, as a day trip. 

What is the Carnevale in Viareggio? 
In 1873, some wealthy people in Viareggio decided to have a parade of floats to celebrate carnival in the town square. Today, it is one of the grandest carnivals in the world. The large floats were originally built with wood and plaster, constructed by carpenters and ironsmiths. What's unique about Viareggio's carnival is the satirical depiction of political and daily life. It adds an extra level of depth, allowing us to reflect on societal problems as well as
The artistic craft continued to evolve, and in 1925, sculptors initiated paper mache -- thus allowing huge but lightweight figures to "float" in the air. I've never see anything like this before (more pictures to come soon) and the entire carnival's a thing to behold. There now exists a site that houses the floats, a laboratory where children can come learn the basics of paper mache, as well as a museum that houses historical carnival materials. In 2002, the Viareggio Carnival earned the title of "The Carnival of Italy and Europe."

To prepare for this experience, I participated in a workshop last week to make my own carnival mask -- guided by master artist Elena Bianchini. She introduced us to traditional paper mache techniques, teaching us about the history and culture of the Italian artistic craft. 

First, you take thick paper (originally made from melted clothing scraps -- the same kind used during the Renaissance) and lay it down with water + glue onto a face mold, which Elena can customize for different faces.

After 3 layers of this soft yet thick paper, Elena lets the mask dry for a few hours (or days, depending on the weather). This is the starting point, where we all received our own masks to work on.  

The next step was to take the glue+water material, and lay on some tissue paper to create a Renaissance effect. [Sidenote: These masks can be used for anything -- theaters, carnivals, etc.]

 Here's my mask after that step:

Then, a layer of white acrylic paint… and then we painted our masks from creativity. I did look up some images for some artistic inspiration!

The final art product! Artistically asymmetrical, which was unintentional. . .

And here are some photos of masks that Elena has made. Contrary to what most people would think, the simpler the mask, the classier. Elena describes to us the unfortunate degrading in the quality of masks -- the ones that sell for a few euro on the street, are extremely elaborate, and are made of plastic. Her masks can last years upon years of use, if taken care of properly. 

Being able to work with my hands to craft a mask was such a fun and unique experience! By participating in this workshop, I felt even more connected to understanding the value of masks in Italian history and culture. Not just learning about, but also participating in these Italian traditions (as well as getting a glimpse of the life of a Florentine artisan) was such a enriching experience. 

I'll be sharing pictures of the Viareggio Carnival soon -- and I promise, the pictures will NOT disappoint. (I may or may not have taken over 350 photos in under 5 hours. . . )