Halloween - a night of enchantment

While spring has arrived here Downunder, the northern hemisphere is getting ready for Halloween.

One of the oldest celebrations in the world, Halloween was originally an agrarian folk festival marking the end of harvest-time, hence the signature colours orange and black; orange holiday foods such as pumpkin pie, apple cider, caramel apples with roasted pumpkin seeds, and the colour black symbolising impending winter and the inevitable cycle of dying.

Many people think Halloween is an American custom (and doubt its relevance beyond the USA), but the original Halloween began in Ireland. In the 1840’s Halloween was exported to America as Irish immigrants rushed to escape their country’s potato famine.

Dating back over two thousand years in Celtic Ireland, the summer season officially ended on October 31. Then the holiday was called Samhain (sow-en) and grew out of the rituals of Celts celebrating their New Year.

Today Halloween has become a confusing mixture of practices. For contemporary Halloween fun check out these links http://www.halloween-online.com/ and http://www.365halloween.com/

Every face tells a story

Spring has arrived in New Zealand, bringing with it a new ‘career path’ for masks. The traditional disguise ‘n display masquerade mask is undergoing a make-over as it moves away from the fringes [of the art establishment]…

Right now new festivals devoted specifically to masks are bursting onto the global scene. Check out Ireland’s inaugural annual Trim Festival of Masks, described as “a six day boutique festival for a discerning audience”, and taking place 24th – 29th October. http://www.festivalofmasks.ie/

Check out next the West Midlands, UK inaugural International Festival of Masks, described as “providing an unmissable opportunity to experience world class international performances, explore the history, magic, emotion, excitement, art and humor behind the mask”, and taking place 19th – 27th October.
http://www.internationalmaskfestival.com/

MasQue 2007, another new international mask theatre festival was held last month (September) in Finland. Check out Theatre Metamorfoosi, described as doing “research related to masks, preparing masks and giving education in mask theatre”.
http://www.metamorfoosi.com/english/

Seeing such strong elements of education (such as making workshops and academic papers) underpinning these three inaugural mask festivals is encouraging (MASKWORX has sent sample packs of the Multimask System and we eagerly await their feedback). There is something liberating about making your own stuff. Making stuff switches on new ways of seeing and thinking which ultimately has wider applications. Today, the only thing hiding behind the contemporary mask is... a story

“You must want [to tell] it with an exuberance that erupts through the skin and joins the energy that created the world”
Sheila Graham

To make this Apple Blossom Mask you will need:
One Ultra Multimask, scissors and sandpaper
Fas White Gesso Primer (fast drying sealer)
White gloss spraypaint
Good quality paintbrush (eg. Francheville Taklon)
Braiding
Hot glue gun
Wedding lace for eye detail
3M Spray adhesive
Nail polish or glitter (for lippy detail)
Ribbon ties and dowelling stick

Cutting:
Cut out an oval or heart-shaped face. It is best to start cutting a few centimeters outside the chosen embossed line with a strong pair of scissors to remove excess, then trim neatly as close to the embossed line as possible.
Carefully ‘open’ the eyes following safety guidelines.
Sandpaper any rough edges.

Painting:
Simply paint your base mask with a coat of white gesso (when using spray paint it is essential to seal the base first due to the absorbency of the Multimask). Dry thoroughly (will only take 5 minutes on a heater).
Take the sealed base mask outside and spray with white gloss. To achieve a really professional-looking surface, up to five or six light coats may be necessary.

Embellishment:
First attach the hand-held dowelling stick to the back of the painted base mask. I covered my stick in coloured scrap paper to add dimension to my ‘apple blossom’ visual story.
Next glue braid around the edges of the mask, finishing at the bottom where the ‘chin’ meets the stick. Affix ends neatly and tie ribbons around it.
Trim the wedding lace and stick on with spray adhesive to accentuate the eyes.
Rub a small amount of complementary colour on the cheekbones in a circular motion (optional).
Use a pencil to draw a heart-shaped outline for the lippy detail.
Fill in the outline with nail polish (using the polish brush is fine) or glue ‘n glitter.

Enjoy your sweet little Mask of Spring…the one you made yourself!!

For Elisabeth (aka Madama Butterfly)

To me, Elisabeth Kubler Ross is Madama Butterfly...and today is an auspicious day. October 7, 2007 is the day Elisabeth Kubler Ross, scientist, doctor, educator, mother, is inducted (posthumously, for she passed away on August 24, 2004) in a special ceremony into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in the United States.

Dr. Elisabeth Kubler Ross is best known as the person who revolutionized grief and bereavement attitudes toward dying patients and their families. She was responsible for bringing the concept of “dying with dignity” into mainstream medicine, and when she toured New Zealand (1985) I spent one week with this tiny great lady, a chain smoker who puffed outside on the cold concrete steps flicking ash all over her open-toed roman sandals.

In Elisabeth’s presence (we were allowed to call her Elisabeth, but never “Liz”) I woke up to masks. First came a silly ‘mask’ drawing, then a collage pasted with paper mask cutouts, next I really wanted to make a whole mask from scratch. How hard could it be?

How hard can it be? Twenty years later I am still obsessing about it!

Last week, on a night with a most beautiful and numinous full moon, and more than twenty years since I saw her last, EKR appeared to me in a dream, her eyes twinkling. Using the telepathic ‘voice’ peculiar to dream sequences I communicated with her that she was looking in fine spirit (considering she was dead!!)

“Was it all worth it?” I wondered out loud, remembering how EKR had endured rotten tomatoes being thrown her way simply because she had been daring enough to tell us modern disenchanted people that we were spiritual beings whether we liked it or not (not to mention her “unconditional love” for AIDS babies)…

She assured me IT WAS.

Indeed, for today is the day EKR takes her place amongst 217 other great women in the NWHOF. More power to Her!
http://www.greatwomen.org/

Check out http://www.elisabethkublerross.com/pages/store.html. Here you will find tiny paper butterflies* impregnated with flower seeds for planting in the garden. How cool is that?
*Elisabeth’s symbol of hope, renewal and new life.

Authentic storytelling wears no costume

Recently I went to hear an African storyteller at our local library. From the moment she entered the room her strong presence was palpable. She seemed scarily powerful, even when the microphone stopped working and she had to rely on her own voice. She used no props other than a stick which she banged like a percussion instrument on a wooden floorboard. She wore no costume but when she changed character her face instantly became a 'mask' and she was... an old man, insect, wind, bird, anything, anyone... You could hear a pin drop during the telling of these tales resonant of African slavery and moral tales originally told to keep children safe.

This session was in stark contrast to one I attended the evening before. At our local university I attended an inaugural professorial lecture about 'higher education', a shambollic 'storytelling' event where the speaker wore full academic costume, had full IT support (the microphone, etc worked!!) with a banquet waiting upstairs (could have fed the whole of Ethiopia), but who lost the audiences attention with his pompous whitterings.

The two speakers couldn't have been more different! Authenticity requires no costume...

While studying African Primal Religions I came across a paper on Makishi, which is a celebration of masquerade or mask-wearing among the Mbunda people of Zambia (makishi being the plural form of likishi, the mask itself). In this region of Africa it was observed that the men wore masks but when women performed the makishi dance they did not. Early anthropologists had made the assumption that masks were restricted to menfolk because they were "too powerful" for womenfolk to handle.

Disputing this male power argument the female author claimed that early anthropologists had asked the wrong question; the issue at stake was not who owned or performed in the masks, but who in the community knew the proper response (to the masks). And by responding appropriately to the cast of makishi characters the women, she argued, acted out a kind of diplomacy in motion, the ‘glue’ necessary for community cohesion. What really informs your status - as medicine man, shaman or modern storytelling equivalent – is not what you wear... but the way others react.

Two words help define a “Maskerpiece”: depth and power. The more critical thinking that goes into the design and construction (depth), the more likely there will be an evocative or provocative aesthetic response (power).

To make this Makishi Mask you will need:

One Ultra Multimask, scissors and sandpaper
Painting and sealing:
Gesso, black
Weaving:
String woven from coconut fibre (or equivalent), apply to rim and sides of mask
Hot glue gun, stick weaving on before polishing or else the fibre won’t stick well
Polishing:
Kiwi Shoe Polish, dark tan + soft rag to apply + brush
Adornment:
Textile strips
Two handmade beads (available from bead store)
Mark-making:
Ash (from firebox), wipe on with fingers, sometimes the simplest of details is the most stunning.
Finishing touches:
Key (a 'Trickster' symbol)
Small ‘bee’ beadling (symbolising Queen Bee, or Africa as Mother of Masks)
Sometimes when you are making a composition, you don’t know why some symbols (like keys and bees) work well together, you just know it fits so if it makes your eyes happy, run with it.

The Road to Mecca (a play)

It had been three years since I last set foot inside Dunedin's Globe Theatre, and although wary I judged it safe enough to return. The play I wanted to see was about the life and works of Helen Martins of New Bethesda, who strived within a crushingly conservative community to bring light and colour into her life by embellishing her environment with reflective mirror patterns and concrete sculptures of the oddest, most eccentric kind. Her home – the Owl House – is now a famous tourist attraction in South Africa, a ‘Mecca’ of sorts with lots of mirrors.
http://www.owlhouse.co.za/

I remembered those cramped red seats and close, interiorized setting. The play was intense, brilliantly acted, a credit to cast and director. But unexpectedly at the play’s ending, that moment when the cast usually takes their bows, we the audience, were asked “do please stand for a minute’s silence” (we weren’t sure if this odd request was part of the play, or not?). Turns out the photographer responsible for taking promotional shots a few days earlier had died unexpectedly. That really creeped me out!

Because three years earlier, my crew and I were photographing masks for publicity purposes in the old Globe theatre just days before death struck…

...We found a rich red coat amongst the Globe’s comprehensive costume collection and had dressed the model in coat and red “Death” (no-one but me knew the mask she wore was named “Death”). Inside the Globe was pretty gloomy. Our photographer’s assistant, a talented young photography student from Japan, was running late so my job was to reflect light onto the model using a large mirror found on site.

Just as I was hefting the mirror into a good position the student photographer duly appeared, but when she suddenly lunged across the darkened space and grabbed the mirror off me, focusing its light onto the mask herself, I thought Okaaay. Slightly miffed, I got out of the way in the nick of time as the death mask reflection fell on her, not me.

Less than a week later she drove her car in front of a fast moving train after taking photos at the beach. Her last roll of film went to Japan (what manner of images was on it I wonder) along with her munted body.

Now I caution mask makers to NEVER name a mask “Death” although mirrored reflections bouncing around the space seem more hazardous than the mask itself.