An Archipelago of Caribbean Masks

$40.00

Dressing in masquerade costumes with masks, feathers and headdresses, music, steel bands, dancing and drums all combine in a raucous and hedonistic celebration. Beyond the party however, carnival presents an opportunity for a deeper and more complex exploration of native culture.

By: Lowell Fiet

SKU: 015 Categories: , Tag:

Description

Carnival in the Caribbean has mixed roots in colonialism and African tradition. Dressing in masquerade costumes with masks, feathers and headdresses, music, steel bands, dancing and drums all combine in a raucous and hedonistic celebration. Beyond the party however, carnival presents an opportunity for a deeper and more complex exploration of native culture.

In An Archipelago of Caribbean Masks, Lowell Fiet, a critic-historian of theatre and performance, as well as a mask maker and performer, explores what the masks signify, what wearing them represents, their relation to character costumes and movement, on the one hand, and the celebratory traditions from which they emerge, on the other hand, their presumed metaphorical and discursive characteristics, and most importantly, who makes masks and how – their materials and form.

Stunningly illustrated with primarily the author’s photographs, the carnival mas and masks are presented less as costume and more as art form. 

Additional information

Weight 2 lbs
Dimensions 12 × 9 in
ISBN

978-976-637-986-5

Binding

Paperback

Page Count

102

Publication Date

May 2019

Contents

I: Introduction: An Archipelago of Masks

Approaching a Theory of Masks

II: Coconut-Husk Vejigantes

and Other Natural Materials Masks

III: Papier-Mâché Masks in Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Panama

Papier-Mâché ‒ Creativity in Jacmel, Haiti

The Diablos of San Juan de la Maguana

(and elsewhere), Dominican Republic

The Diablos Sucios of La Villa de Los Santos, Panamá

IV: Papier-Mâché Masks in Puerto Rico, Trinidad, and Dominica

The Vejigantes of Ponce, Puerto Rico

Papier-Mâché Masks in Trinidad’s Carnival

Carnival in Dominica

V: Wire Screen, Cardboard, “Paint,” and Synthetic Masks

Wire Screen

Cardboard

Paint

Global Masks

VI: Mask-Making in Transcultural Education

Mask-Making Workshops

Results

Afterword

Works Cited or Referenced

About the Author

Lowell Fiet was educated at the University of Wisconsin (PhD 1973) and has taught at the University of Puerto Rico-Río Piedras since 1978. His dozens of reviews, articles, and books focus on Caribbean and Puerto Rican theater, drama, and performance. He is the founding editor of Sargasso, launched the Rockefeller Foundation-supported “Caribbean 2000” project, organized three National Endowment for the Humanities summer projects, and designed and for several years coordinated the UPR-Río Piedras PhD Program in Caribbean literature and linguistics. He was Eugenio María de Hostos Honorary Professor at UPR in 2001‒2003, and has also served as the director of the Interdisciplinary Studies program in Humanities and the Institute of Caribbean Studies in Social Sciences. His books include El teatro puertorriqueño reimaginado (2004) and Caballeros, vejigantes, locas y viejos: Santiago Apóstol y los performeros afro-puertorriqueños (2007). His current work focuses on festival masks in Portugal and Spain and masks in contemporary Puerto Rican theater.

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