Photo: Olivier DesartMaskMuseum. Binche. Belgium

Masks - intangible heritage of Europe
 
An exhibition about mask traditions from the Carnaval and Mask Museum in Binche. Belgium
May 31 - September 19, 2010

In all cultures and in all times Man has used masks as a part of his register of cultural expression. The mask has had its given place in rites and ceremonies, in dance, in theatre and in carnaval. From the cultures of antiquity in the West, by the way of the Italian mask play called commedia dell´arte and the Japanese No-theatre to the so-called "primitive peoples", the mask has played an important role.The mask both covers and reveals, protects and liberates. Even today the mask is to be found in many cultures around the world, in Europe for instance in carnaval times, as in Venice or in Binche, and other festivities, as Christmas.

This exhibition is produced by the Carnaval and Mask museum in Binche, in Belgium. In this Walloon city exists a living, extravagant carnaval tradition where the mask of course plays an important role. The exhibition displays the universality of the mask in general but its European traditions in particular.

The exhibition is presented in connection to Belgium taking over the presidency of the European Union from July 1st 2010.

Musée international du Carnaval et du Masque

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