Exhibition 'MASKErad'

About exhibition

Perhaps no culture on Earth has existed without masks. The exhibition features masks from different eras, peoples and continents. According to the beliefs of distant ancestors, when donning a mask a person most often did not simply change their appearance but was transformed into the character they portrayed. Through the pen of writers Alexandre Dumas and Johnston McCulley some of the most memorable characters of world literature were created: the Man in the Iron Mask and Zorro. Visitors can try on the masks of these literary heroes and take part in a workshop on making carnival masks. The exhibition will let visitors immerse themselves in a world of palace intrigues, ritual African dances, the terrifying plague outbreaks of medieval Europe, and the joyous carnivals on the islands of Venice. Of particular note are the Slavic masquerade traditions, closely linked to pre-Christian notions of good and evil. Death, life, love and treachery are tightly intertwined in what seems to be an ordinary object that covers the face.