This colorfully painted papier mâché mask depicts a horned
devil. On the back, a piece of red fabric
is stapled just behind the
horns and hangs down the neck of the wearer. Made for the feast of
Corpus
Christi, the mask is inscribed twice on the inside.
One inscription identifies
this as a
Diablos De Yare mask. Los Diablos Danzante De
Yare (The Dancing Devils of Yare) are a
traditional component of
the Corpus Christi celebrations in the village of Yare, about 50 miles
from
the Venezuelan capital of Caracas. The Christian feast of Corpus
Christi depicts symbolic struggles
between good and evil. The feast features
traditional dance and red clothing, larged horned masks
of animals, and
diablos dancing in the streets to the music of drums and maracas.
(Dimensions: H12.5” x W 17” x D8”)
A second inscription inside identifies this mask as a “gift for
the renowned choreographer Dunham
from Professor Yolanda Salazar, Institute
of Higher Learning, Caracas.” Dunham brought international performers
and teachers to the Performing Arts Training Center in East St. Louis.
According to Dunham, “everybody is an anthropologist. My objective
is to see that different cultures get to know each other.”
