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I have been doing a bit of research into the history of carnival. Most the information in English is about the Mardi Gras type of carnival in the US and the Caribbean. I was more interested in the history of carnival in Europe. I found a couple of websites in German that had some interesting information. Carnival is mostly celebrated in countries with catholic history, hence it doesn’t feature much in the UK. It was a chance to let your hair down before the abstemious weeks of Lent. It struck me that masks play a large role in most of the carnivals. I presume being incognito allowed for more freedom to party!
Here are two links to pages in German on the history. This one covers in particular the tradition of Fasching or Fastnacht as it is known in Germany. And this one takes a boarder look at the traditions in the DACH countries (Germany, Austria, Switzerland).
For those of you whose German is a bit rusty  , here is a link to google translate where you can enter the URL (link) and get a translation. It’s not brilliant, but you can get the gist!
When I suggested February as our first deadline I knew I was in danger of getting my least favourite theme – Valentine’s Day. So I am really glad that Cäcilia chose a different one. I just don’t like hearts as a subject. The shape itself appeals to me, but I just find all the associations too kitschy. (Can you say that in English these days? If not then tacky.) My heart always sunk when I received presents with hearts in them. I’ve had heart shaped earrings for my 21st birthday – from a girlfriend. My Granny gave me a heart shaped pendant that I always feel uncomfortable wearing. And so the list goes on. Luckily Sqeze (my DH) has never given me anything heart shaped – even before he knew that I didn’t like it. He’s not the sort to go in for hearts either.
So I was glad when Cäcilia decided on carnival. I have seen some of the carnivals here in Germany. The carnival in Mainz tends to have quite political slant to its floats. Here is one from the procession in 1981. The plane eating up the forest was part of the protest against building a new runway at Frankfurt Airport.
 Left is one of the figures that also take part in the processions. They remind me of the huge figures made of papier maché and then burnt in the Fallas festival in Valencia, which is not actually part of carnival. The carnival in Mainz is not my favourite. I prefer the Fastnacht that is found in Southern Germany. When we first came to Germany we lived in Stuttgart, which is in the Fastnacht area. One of the famous towns for Fastnacht celebrations near Stuttgart is Rottenburg, where the following two photos were taken. The cat men are really quite menacing figures, especially as they sport cat skins on the costumes. I never did find out if they were real cats and I don’t think I really want to know.
We have also been to one of the balls with the theme of Carnival in Venice. We hired our costumes from a theatre costume rental agency. I didn’t make them myself This is Sqeze:
And this is me:
I’m a little sad that when we were living in Munich, we never made the effort to go to Venice for the carnival there. I knew a number of people that did. It’s not all that far from Munich. Still maybe we’ll get there some day. It is one of the carnivals that I would like to experience for myself.
When I looked up the theme carnival in Wikipedia I was amazed at how many countries around the world have some sort of carnival event. Just goes to show that we all enjoy the chance to let our hair down occasionally.
I think there should be enough choice in this theme to keep us all happy. Great start Cäcilia!
While reading Ruth’s e-mail and her request to name the first theme for our challenges, “Carneval” popped up right away, since the reveal end of February will be just the right time of the year!
My brain started Mind-mapping right away:
- Carneval in Rio and Venice
- Mardi gras in New Orleans
- Karneval in Köln and Mainz (Germany)
- Fasnacht in Lucerne and Basel (Switzerland)
Colors, Masks, Feathers, Rhinestones, Beads, Laces, Sheers, Satins, Brokats, Ruffles, Confetti…!
Carneval marks the end of the winter. The ghosts of winter shall be driven away by all the masks and the noises made by humans. It is a time to feast before Lent and than Easter.
I will do some more research and post links later on.
I’m working with a bird theme and want to gather images and stories about bird women – I’ve got some obvious stuff on harpies and a a few other bits and bobs, but does anyone know any less well known godesses, monsters, legends, stories etc that involve half bird half women creatures? I’m finding these ideas really facinating, even the amount of bird related words in the English language that refer to women. Birds, chicks, nightingale, little sparrow, mother hen etc. No doubt there’s screeds of acedemic papers out there..
Wietske drew my attention to this piece of news on the website of the Forge Mill Needle Museum:
I found it interesting that opinion of the people and the judges diverged. In particular the award winning piece did not get a look in with the general public. I have to say this does tend to confirm my suspicion that sometimes the experts are somewhat far removed from the wo/man on the street. However, having said that I should add that the judges considered the innovation, how the techniques fitted the subject, and technical execution as criteria for giving the awards and not whether the piece had general appeal. I would be the first to admit that something that appeals to all is probably not something exceptional.
Pity they got the title of Mary’s piece wrong. “Freedom from Freedom” is a completely different concept to “Freedom From Freedom To”.
… finding time to create work and then talk about it! Well done for getting us this far Ruth. Does anyone want to suggest a topic or theme for the first piece of work?
Watch this space – as soon as we’ve set up Use Your Eyes, we’ll be posting regularly here on topics around textile art, quilting and more!
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Ruth | Category: