Cajun mardi gras masks. Cajun Mardi Gras Masks by Carl Lindahl, Carolyn Ware 2022-10-26
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Mardi Gras, also known as Fat Tuesday, is a festive celebration that takes place in the United States, particularly in the Gulf Coast region. It is a time for people to come together and celebrate before the start of the lenten season, which is a time of fasting and repentance in the Christian faith. One of the most iconic symbols of Mardi Gras is the use of masks, and in the Cajun communities of Louisiana, these masks play a particularly important role in the celebrations.
One of the most distinctive features of Cajun Mardi Gras masks is their use of bright, bold colors. Red, green, and gold are particularly common, and these colors are often incorporated into the masks in the form of feathers, beads, and other decorative elements. The masks may also feature abstract patterns or images that are specific to the particular krewe or to the theme of the celebration.
In addition to their decorative elements, Cajun Mardi Gras masks may also have functional features such as holes for the eyes or mouth, or openings for the nose. These features allow the wearer to see, breathe, and communicate while wearing the mask. The masks may also have ties or other fastenings to help secure them in place on the head.
The use of masks during Mardi Gras celebrations serves a number of purposes. For one, they help to create a festive and carnival-like atmosphere, as the masks add to the overall sense of revelry and excitement. Masks also help to create a sense of anonymity and freedom for the wearer, as they allow people to let go of their everyday identities and engage in the celebrations without fear of judgment. This sense of anonymity can encourage people to be more expressive and playful, which is a key part of the Mardi Gras experience.
In addition to their role in the Mardi Gras celebrations, Cajun Mardi Gras masks also have a deeper cultural significance for the Cajun communities of Louisiana. Masks have long been a part of Cajun folk traditions, and the use of masks during Mardi Gras is a way of honoring and preserving these traditions. The masks also reflect the vibrant and diverse cultural heritage of the Cajun people, as they incorporate elements of French, African, and Native American influences.
Overall, Cajun Mardi Gras masks are an integral part of the celebrations and traditions of Mardi Gras in Louisiana. They add to the festive atmosphere of the event, provide a sense of anonymity and freedom for the wearer, and reflect the rich cultural heritage of the Cajun people. Whether worn by members of Mardi Gras krewes or simply as a way to join in the celebrations, Cajun Mardi Gras masks are a beloved and enduring symbol of this joyous and festive occasion.
The Story Behind Cajun Mardi Gras Masks
The drunken, debauched riders, however, hide their human identities behind various parish-specific masks made and molded out of wire mesh. As they generate merriment, they climb trees, chase chickens, and create a general and playful havoc. And since riders wear the masks for so long, we just try to make them a little more comfortable now. . Such creations transform their wearers into wild revelers who move through the countryside singing, dancing, and begging for money and food. Out of necessity their captivating masks combine the ingredients of durability, shock value, and allure with age-old folk patterns and innovations from contemporary culture. It just takes somebody to keep at it and keep pushing it.
Potic Rider and the Moreau and LeBlue families represent the male maskmaking traditions of Basile, Louisiana. The masked country Cajuns engage in rousing, physically energetic performances as they cavort through the countryside. Nonetheless, it covers the mask-making and the courir de Mardi Gras of Tee Mamou and Basile in detail that I've not seen elsewhere. Unlike other mask-makers, Lou Trahan covers her masks with colored felt, yarn, buttons, lace and other knickknacks. The masked country Cajuns engage in rousing, physically energetic performances as they cavort through the countryside. Egan happily stands in the shadow of the much larger Tee Mamou parade just to the west.
Cajun Mardi Gras Masks by Carl Lindahl, Carolyn Ware
On horseback, flatbed trucks and ATVs, hordes of colorfully garbed riders blaze through the middle of big, Cajun crowds while singing, shouting and begging for nickels, trinkets and ingredients for a gumbo meal to be shared by the community later that night. There is a photo of a Mardi Gras in this context, a participant in the courir, or procession in blackface wearing a David Duke button. They use window screens, chicken feathers, yarn, hair, Magic Markers, and hot glue as they create fanciful, even bizarre masks that will be worn just one day in the year. Their capuchin are not as tall. Description Every winter a handful of Cajun Louisiana folk artists assembles unlikely mixtures of material to shape masks for their Cajun Mardi Gras celebrations.
Carl Lindahl, co-editor of Swapping Stories: Folktales from Louisiana University Press of Mississippi , is a professor of English at the University of Houston. Although the authors obviously spoke with several of the maskmakers in these small towns and neighborhoods, the book contains only a small number of quotes. There is a phot The writing is labored and overly repetitive, despite weighing in at under 100 pages and containing a large number of photos. Cajun Mardi Gras celebrants are unlike their counterparts in New Orleans, where masked revelers ride through the streets on floats or parade serenely through ballrooms. Carolyn Ware is Coordinator of the Pine Hills Culture Program at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg. The mask helps erase consequence. And since riders wear the masks for so long, we just try to make them a little more comfortable now.
Wherever Mardi Gras is celebrated, the mask is key. Tee Mamou, west of Iota, boasts one of the oldest Mardi Gras groups, which has never stopped running since the Acadians first arrived in Louisiana. Louis Cathedral in the French Quarter of New Orleans and in the permanent exhibit at the Prairie Acadian Cultural Center in Eunice. Here is a study of the Cajun Mardi Gras tradition and its manifestation in the work of six of the most creative and popular folk artists in two rural communities. Women run Courir de Mardi Gras on the Saturday before Fat Tuesday, children run on Sunday, and the men run on Mardi Gras proper. Such creations transform their wearers into wild revelers who move through the countryside singing, dancing, and begging for money and food. Women run Courir de Mardi Gras on the Saturday before Fat Tuesday, children run on Sunday, and the men run on Mardi Gras proper.
As the communities celebrate, their masks become an intrinsic component of the annual rites. Her work has been featured in books including A Unique Slant of Light: The Bicentennial Art and Weird Louisiana. Egan happily stands in the shadow of the much larger Tee Mamou parade just to the west. The most famous and well-documented of these wire mask makers are Allen and Georgie Manuel of Eunice, whose ancestors have been making masks and running the Courir de Mardi Gras since the 1930s. None of them have noses.
The wire masks of Church Point, for instance, are known to be plain, featuring regular human noses. Then about eight years ago the descendants started it up again. Louis Cathedral in the French Quarter of New Orleans and in the permanent exhibit at the Prairie Acadian Cultural Center in Eunice. Nonetheless, it covers the mask-making and the courir de Mardi Gras of Tee Mamou and Basile in detail that I've not seen elsewhere. The wire masks of Church Point, for instance, are known to be plain, featuring regular human noses.
Suson Launey, Renee Fruge, and Jackie Miller portray the female role in festivities held in the rural region of Tee Mamou. As they generate merriment, they climb trees, chase chickens, and create a general and playful havoc. The capitaines leave their faces exposed to let everyone know who is in charge. Her work can be seen at the Presbytere of the St. Meaning the masks have to be screen-based.
Their capuchin are not as tall. As the communities celebrate, their masks become an intrinsic component of the annual rites. They use window screens, chicken feathers, yarn, hair, Magic Markers, and hot glue as they create fanciful, even bizarre masks that will be worn just one day in the year. She began making masks for her husband and two boys to wear while running with Mermentau. Of course, admiring friends soon wanted their own masks, which Trahan obligingly made.
Of course, admiring friends soon wanted their own masks, which Trahan obligingly made. Out of necessity their captivating masks combine the ingredients of durability, shock value, and allure with age-old folk patterns and innovations from contemporary culture. Suson Launey, Renee Fruge, and Jackie Miller portray the female role in festivities held in the rural region of Tee Mamou. So much detail is lightly skipped over, though. At first we had to sew a lot of the stuff on there, but now we use glue guns, plus we have access to more trim and braid than when I first started.
