Masks and…Craftsmanship from around the World
21 July 2016
An exhibition dedicated to wearable wooden masks in a comparison between the Aosta Valley and the rest of the world.
The exhibition aimed to show visitors the peculiarities of a simple and representative object such as the mask, focusing attention on its creation and production, not only within the regional borders, but also beyond them. The 150 masks on display came from the Aosta Valley, Trentino Alto Adige, Switzerland, Africa, Asia and Oceania. An intercontinental journey that led to the discovery of the savoir-faire of the mask-maker and his productions.
Edited by: Nurye Donatoni MAIN Team: Stefano Parussolo, Stefania Trenta, Marco Vigna
Since its inauguration, the Gignod exhibition center has been characterized by active management, in line with the general philosophy of IVAT. Through its activities and the involvement of the most diverse audiences, the MAIN presents itself as a “living and participatory” place in continuous dialogue with the community and its different realities.
The proposed activities differ both in type and in the groups of public involved (schools, families, adults, artisans, immigrants and disabled) with the common goal of cultural valorization of the exhibited heritage in a perspective of continuous exchange and comparison.
Socio-cultural projects
January - August 2016
The project, thanks to an agreement stipulated with the Arc en Ciel Cooperative and IVAT, was aimed at creating and carrying out activities aimed at promoting the integration and improvement of the artistic-interpretative skills of people with mental health problems.
The subjects involved analyzed the “mask object” as an artifact born from specific knowledge and cultures, focusing on aspects such as shape, color and decoration, and then created about thirty polymaterial masks that reinterpreted the subjects on display.
January - September 2016
The MigrAction project was born from a perspective of interculturality and inclusion. A group of migrants welcomed by the Cooperativa Arc en Ciel in January 2016 participated in the creation of the exhibition with suggestions, memories and personal experiences; analyzing the typology and uses of African masks, from the Museo degli Sguardi in Rimini.
The aim was to encourage a cultural comparison between different realities by observing the values and knowledge on the theme of craftsmanship also through a reinterpretation of the exhibited heritage. Inside a creative laboratory, with the help of recycled or commonly used materials, some masks inspired by those exhibited in the Africa section of the exhibition were created.
July - August 2017
The Chantier Jeunes Francophones project is a Francophone exchange involving 20 young people from the Aosta Valley and 20 young people from France aged 14 to 18 and their chaperones. The project was implemented by CSV – Centro Servizi Volontariato in collaboration with four entities in the Aosta Valley area, including MAIN. The young participants were able to visit the museums of L’Artisanà, repaying the hospitality with useful work for the maintenance of the structure.
School Projects
August 4 – October 31, 2017
“L’Artistico in Maschera” is an exhibition within an exhibition, which displays the masks created by the skill and imagination of the second year classes of the Liceo Artistico di Aosta. The students, taking inspiration from the works exhibited at the museum during the fall and, under the guidance of their teachers, have created both some models with a theme related to nature, focusing on the choice and use of materials from the forest, and paper masks, with elaborate shapes and carvings, decorated with the technique of pigment and medium.
The MAIN presented the results of this work by exhibiting the 54 works created.
July - September 2017
From the exhibition “Artistico in Maschera” a creative laboratory project started that invited children to discover the craftsmanship of masks under the guidance of the students of the Art High School of Aosta. Of particular interest was the intergenerational comparison between the young participants, who tested their manual skills to make masks in paper or with natural materials, and the students of the Art High School who got involved in teaching the techniques learned during their school career.
Events
July 21, 2016
On Thursday 21 July 2016, the premiere of the play “Sankara” was held in the green area, a show narrated by Andrea Damarco and set to music live by Marco Giovinazzo, which tells the story of the man who tried to realize the Pan-African dream. It is the story of a great revolutionary, born and raised in Africa, the oldest and most controversial continent on the planet, who renamed his land Burkina Faso, “the land of upright men”.
February 24, 2017 - March 1, 2017
On the occasion of Carnival, the exhibition center offered free guided tours and educational workshops for families dedicated to the creation of a paper mask and, in honor of the Coumba Freida carnival, to the creation of the Landzette headdress.
On February 27, thanks to the collaboration with the Comité de Poudzo, the typical masks of the Gignod Carnival paraded through the rooms of the exhibition space.
September 22 - 24, 2017
At the end of the exhibition, it was considered important to bring together the artisans who produce masks. The aim of the event was to give new strength and impetus to the mask production of our territory, a place with a great carnival tradition, through an opportunity for meeting and comparing different people, techniques and geographical areas. With these aims, the “International Mask Makers’ Festival” was organised, an important event entirely dedicated to Alpine craftsmanship with the mask as the protagonist.
Guests of honor were the Consorzio dei Mascherai Alpini, an association that brings together sculptors of wooden carnival masks from various Alpine locations in north-eastern Italy, Austria and Slovenia, and the Mascherai Svizzeri of Evolène. This celebration was dedicated to the numerous artisans from the Aosta Valley who collaborated and lent their works for the preparation of the exhibition “Masks and…Artigianìa dal Mondo”.
The event offered technical moments, with practical workshops aimed exclusively at artisans, and informative activities open to enthusiasts and the curious.
Saturday 23 September in particular was the day with the most events including the conference “The wooden mask in Alpine carnivals” and the demonstrations of processing by the Consorzio dei Mascherai Alpini; the mask sculpture workshop, reserved for artisans; the children’s workshop “Mani in maschera”; the guided tour of the exhibition and, at the end of the day, the aperitif among the masks of the museum.
July - September 2017
During the summer, in the green area in front of the MAIN, three book presentations were held, promoted by the Intercommunal Library of Allein-Gignod and the Association of Friends of the Library of Gignod: “La Principessa Scarlet and the Kingdom of Biancolatte” by Rossella Scalise, with illustrations by Annie Caroline Roveyaz; “Vieni con me” by Loredana Faletti and “Favolare il mondo” by Alessandra Corno, followed by a delicious aperitif.
This initiative shows the center’s willingness to collaborate with the territory by becoming a meeting place for the community.
Museum Education
July - September 2016
In the summer of 2016, a creative and manual workshop was proposed, dedicated to the knowledge and reinterpretation of masks, where children could become “aspiring mask makers” for a day. Starting from the masks on display and focusing on aspects such as shape, color, decoration, participants and their families were able to create their own mask, using recycled materials.
August - September 2016
To bring the adult public closer to the interpretation of masks, especially African ones, the artist Elvis Aristide Bazongo held some painting workshops in which users experimented with the use of natural techniques and pigments to reinterpret the shapes and styles of the African masks on display.
The artist from Burkina Faso has also created some paintings that tell of masks worn in his country of origin and painted a wall that describes Africa inside the exhibition space.
July 14, 2017 - July 16, 2017
A workshop to let young people aged 12 to 17 experience the art and cultures of the world through street art as a reading tool. The workshop with the artist Giorgio Je included an introduction to the history and evolution of graffiti, muralism and street art, and a practical workshop in which the kids had the opportunity to create a collective mural at the foot of the MAIN. The mural thus remains over time as a testimony to a cultural project seen through the eyes of the kids.
September - October 2016
The educational project, which involved all classes of schools of all levels of the Unité des Communes valdôtaines Grand-Combin, focused on the knowledge and interpretation of the mask object as a craft product whose form and use are closely related to beliefs and specific skills.