Schio's Cosplay Meet

I had my first encounter with the Cosplay world a few years ago, when I saw some persons dressed like cartoons in our little town Schio in the north-east of Italy. I was fascinated with those costumes and the strange young people wearing them.

I feel a little jealous of the Cosplayers. I think that it would have been great fun when I was young, to have purple and green hair along with an Arabian Nights kind of costume. Unfortunately, it is too late for that and the only costume that can fit me now is a potato-sack! So sour-grapes and all, I try to think of these guys as a new species, Homo comicans, who are a bit of narcissistic nerds, a little clumsy in their social relationships who can only find fulfilment in imaginary worlds. 

Schio had started organising an annual Cosplay meet some years ago. The Covid-19 outbreak had interrupted this tradition in 2020. This year (2022) finally it is back. This post is about ths year's Cosplay. It also talks about a group of graphic and comic book-enthusiasts called Breganze Comics, whom I met in the meet.

If you like costumes, fantasy worlds, comics and graphic novels, then this post is for you. This post has a lot of pictures, which will give you an idea about Cosplay.

A Cosplay Meet

The word Cosplay comes from Costume + Role-Play and is linked with the fantasy games, comics, graphic novels, science-fiction TV serials and films inspired mainly from Japnaese and Korean cultures, especially the Manga comics and Anime. For these meets, Cosplay enthusiasts dress and behave like their favourite characters. They often spend months to design their looks and to make their own costumes.

The Cosplay meets bring together the Cosplayers as well as, the artistic, creative and commercial worlds which support them. These include fantasy board games, miniatures of different fantasy story characters, comics and graphic book creaters and publishers, and cosplay clubs. The commercial entreprises supporting them run shops and clubs where you can 3-D print miniatures, or assemble and colour the miniatures, and print special T-shirts, mugs and other memorabilia. Collecting, exchanging and selling specific materials linked to Cosplay is another area of interest.

Schio's Costumes' Culture

Veneto region where Schio is located, has different cultural-costumes' traditions, such as those associated with Carnival, where people wear medieval costumes and masks. To those old traditions, new traditions of costumes inspired by literary worlds or by other cultures have been added such as Halloween, Steampunk and Cosplay.

Even the Indian Holi festival is also becoming popular and an annual Holi meet is organised in Vicenza.

Schio's Cosplay Meet 2022

This year's Cosplay meet was held on 5th June in the gardens of Fabbrica Alta, which used to be one of the biggest wool mills of Schio and is now used for cultural events. There were all kinds of stalls setup by the Cosplay enthsiasts in the park.

The afternoon saw the competition for the best Cosplay costumes. Though it was a hot day, it had a big audience.

Breganze Comics

During the event, I met some persons who have a passion for writing and illustrating comic books. Their group is called Breganze Comics.

 

Breganze is a small town around 20 kms from Schio. During 1970s, a young writer-artist of comic books called Alberto Simioni started this group. It brought together young persons who were interested in creating comics and graphic novels. Simioni died young, but his legacy lives on with the group. It has had its ups-and-downs but so far, it has managed to be active.

At the Schio Cosplay, I met three artists and members of Breganze Comics - Eleonora Bresolin, Martina Becky Schena and Lorenzo Malandrin, who explained to me about their passion for designing and publishing their comics. Cosplay and comics-related events are opportunities for them to meet other enthusiasts, show their work and sell their comics. Their creative works use some of the original characters developed by Alberto Simioni, and at the same time, they keep on experimenting with new characters. Brainkiller, one of their new Veneto-horror comic about zombies, had come out in 2020.

Franco Carrara, the coordinator of Breganze Comics, was one of the young boys who had joined Alberto Sirmioni in 1977, said: "I had taken over and promoted this group in the memory of its founder Sirmioni, so I am very happy when I see these young persons take over and be active in the activities of our group. They are its future." 

At their stall I also met Michela Mika Fusato, who is part of the Breganze Comics and has an independent contract with EF Edizioni for her romantic comics based on a character called Alicia. Mika also a Facebook page where you can check her illustrations. Seven volumes of her books, all in Italian, are already available on Amazon and book-shops.

In Conclusion

I am happy that finally the Covid-19 restricts have been lifted so that we can have events like this one.

I feel that different factors contribute towards the popularity of Cosplay among the young people. Partly, it is about creative expression in a unique and personal way - individuals can choose a character which appeals to them and with whom they can identify. It is also about the need for magic and fantasy in our lives, which are increasingly dominated by rationality and science. It may also be linked to our feelings of solitude and the need to feel a part of a community.

My knowledge about Cosplay is very superficial - I hardly know about the different Manga, Anime books, shows and games which inspire the Cosplayers. I can't tell you the name of any of the popular characters of Cosplay. Still I like their colours, creativity and vivacity.

I was told that one should never click pictures of cosplayers without first asking them and letting them strike a proper pose according to their character.

Our Cosplay meet in Schio is a small blip among the bigger and better known events like the Comic-con in San Diego and Anime-expo in Los Angels. Italy's biggest Cosplay meet is held in Lucca in Tuscany, while Japan, the original cosplay destination, has a famous event in Nagoya.

The wonderful world of Steam-Punk

Steam-Punk is a fashion, literature and art movement inspired from the innovations in the 18th century which led to the industrial revolution. Recently I saw some steam-punk enthusiasts dressed in their costumes.

It was my introduction to the steam-punk movement - I had never heard of them before. All the images in this post are of the persons from the Italian "Steam-Punk Nord-est" association.

Costumes and make-believe worlds

People have always loved dressing up in costumes, for example, in the Venice carnival.

The Punk style with striking costumes and colourful spiked hair styles made their appearance in the 1970s. In the 1990s, imaginary worlds of science fiction and fantasy, led to different movements like cyber-punk and diesel-punk. For example, during the 1990s, while living in Bologna (Italy), I came across groups of young persons, living as homeless urban vagabonds, with long matted hair and dogs. They were known as Punkabestia (beast-punk). The Steam-Punk movement also started in those years.

In more recent years, role-play games and fantasy worlds have become popular and are called Cosplay. I love the colourful Cosplay costumes.

Steam-Punk Philosophy

Steam-Punk ideas were influenced by writers like Jules Verne and H. G. Wells. Scientific advances made in the 18th century such as the steam-ship and steam-engines play an important role in Steam-Punk.

The term "steam-punk" originated in the late 1980s as a variant of "cyber-punk". Science-fiction writers of Steam-Punk, imagined alternative worlds based on coal and steam power. For example, American writer Paul di Filippo wrote a trilogy of steam-punk novellas in 1995.

Steam Punk is a retro-futurism - a retro (old) technology imagined as a future. It can mix digital technology with handmade art. For example, look at the amazing old rusty-looking digital camera used by the Steam-Punk enthusiast in the image below.

Steam-Punk Costumes

The steam-punk brings together modern costumes and some elements from Victorian era such as corsets, gowns and petticoats for the women, and waistcoats, long coats, top hats and bowler hats for the men.

The costumes are accompanied by accessories such as old airplane goggles, parasols, stylish guns and sling bows.

Many well known fashion brands such as Prada, Versace and Dior have come up with clothes inspired by Steam-Punk. However, the real steam-punk enthusiasts invest a lot of resources and personal imagination in creating their costumes. For example, check the beautifully made complex hats worn by the two persons in the image below!

Steam-Punk Nord-Est Association

The Steam Punk association of the north-east of Italy, whose members are featured in this post, came to Schio, where I live, during a recent cultural festival called the British Day. Among the group, they even had a look-alike queen Victoria (in the image below).

The members of this association design and wear steam-punk costumes and show them off during the different cultural festivals in the region. They also organise symposiums to present their "steam-punk" inventions and creativity.

Conclusions

As our societies become more developed and as we have more free time, I think that movements like steam-punk will become even more common. They are a way of having fun. They are also a way of organising smaller communities around a common-interest, to escape from the anonymity of the modern urban life.

For me, it was an opportunity to learn about their striking and colourful world. That day, my favourite costume was a photographer with an ancient looking camera (in the image below) though I am not sure if it worked!.

Using your fantasy, if you could create an imaginary world based in your own cultural ethos and history, what kind of worlds would you like to imagine?

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Boat parade at the Venice Carnival

Venice Carnival is a ten days long celebration in which colourful costumes and masks play an important role. One of the first events of the Venice Carnival is the Boat Parade or the Water Parade (Corteo Acqueo). It is a fun event where people row boats wearing funny costumes, usually without any masks, like the lady shown in the image below.

I love the refined elegance and colours of the medieval costumes in the Venice Carnival. However, during the last Carnival, I also wanted to experience the simpler joys of the Boat Parade. This post shares that experience.

Watching the Boat Parade

Venice is full of canals. Grand Canal is one of the biggest. Almost 4 km long it starts near the most famous square of Venice, San Marco Square, and ends near the railway station and bus stand. The Boat Parade celebrates the Grand Canal. Only rowing boats can take part in it - no motor boats are allowed.

During this parade, boats start around noon from the San Marco end of Grand Canal. The starting point is called Punto Della Dogana (Custom point), across the canal from San Marco Square, marked by the beautiful Santa Maria della Vita church. Passing under the Academy bridge and Rialto bridge, the parade ends in Cannareggio, not very far from the Venice Railway station. At Canareggio, locals set up stands with traditional food and wine, and the parade ends with a long floating party.

My Experience of the Boat Parade

I took a train and reached Venice around 10 AM. From the railway station I turned right towards the famous three-bridges and to Santa Croce, and then along the smaller canal towards Santa Marta which hosts the Venice University (Ca' Foscari). It was along the small canal that I saw the first boats with people wearing costumes who were going to the parade.

When I reached the big canal facing the Giudecca island, I followed the curve of Dorsoduro. Here I came across another group of persons, all dressed in pink jackets. They brought out their long boat for participating in the parade. It was a mixed group of persons, some young, some old and mostly women.

For participating in the parade, no registration is needed, you just need a rowing boat and some costumes. Traditionally each area of Venice and neighbouring towns have their teams for the parade. Usually these are persons who do not row boats normally, so they need to do some practice and get into form since it requires stamina.

Soon after I reached the tip of Dorsoduro called Punto della Dogana. By that time it was almost 11 AM and I could see boats full of people with colourful costumes on both sides of Grand Canal.

Many of the persons must have had their starting dose of wine or beer since they all seemed to be in high spirits. Their costumes were not elegant or refined. Many men, some of them with beards, were wearing women's clothes. Some were wearing mismatched costumes. Compared to the other days of the Venice carnival, when the emphasis is on exquisitely refined colour-coordinated medieval costumes, the ambiance was very different.

My original plan was to watch the boats getting ready for the parade and then walk to Academia bridge to click some pictures. However, as I walked towards this bridge, I could see that it was choked with people. Even the narrow streets around the bridge were overflowing with people. It was impossible to walk there.

So I walked back towards the starting point to click pictures of the boats as they went towards the Academia bridge. It was very beautiful.

After the boats passed, I waited patiently till the crowds dispersed from the Academia bridge and I could cross the Grand Canal for walking towards Rialto and Cannareggio. Many of the persons who had come to watch the boat parade were also wearing colourful costumes (like the group in the image below). These costumes were more elaborate, they were not the fun costumes of the boat parade. Thus the walk back to Cannareggio was a lot of fun.

By the time I reached Cannareggio, it was almost 5 PM. Boats had already reached there, taken their fill of wine and food and then were slowly turning back to go home.

The image below has a boat going back from Cannareggio.

I loved the relaxed and fun ambiance of the Boat Parade. I found a place in a canalside caffe for a beer before going back to the railway station for my train.

Conclusions

My choice of going to Dorsoduro gave me an opportunity to spend a lot of time with boats and people as they were getting ready for the start of the parade. It was not very crowded and I really enjoyed this part of the day.

This choice meant that I could not see the boats passing under the bridges and the conclusion of the parade in Cannareggio. By the time I reached there, the parade was almost over.

However I do not regret my choice. The alternative would have been to go early, find a good place on Academia bridge or Rialto bridge and wait for boats to pass underneath. Since the carnival attracts thousands of persons, you can't do everything, you can only do one thing. May be another time I will go early and stand at Rialto bridge to look at the boats as they come across the Grand Canal!

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Update 28 January 2024

After 7 years, I was back in Venice for the boat carnival or the Corteo Acqueo and I redid the initial part of my visit exactly as I had done in 2017, with completely different results. This year the boat carnival had a few miserly boats and none of the colours and fun I had seen in 2017. The boats were supposed to start from the Punta della Dogana (right across St Mark square, near Santa Maria della Salute church) at 11 AM but even by 11.30, there were no boats, and no costumes that I could see - not even one. I asked the local gondola-men and they told me that it was late. When the boats came and went, I missed them completely, as to pass the time, I was visiting the Santa Maria della Salute church. As I came out of the church, I heard people talking about their disappointment.

I could think of two reasons why this carnival event did not work out so well this year:

(1) Early carnival dates and cold temperatures: This year carnival is early and in these weeks north Italy is going through near zero temperatures even in late mornings. Probably because of this, all the neighbouring cities which bring their boats for the carnival probably decided to stay away. It was a foggy and cold morning.

(2) During Covid, for a few years, this event did not take place and may be, it has not yet gone back to its old splendour.

Looking at this year's carnival programme, I have not seen anything about the parade of the Marias, usually on the last sunday before the carnival-tuesday. Since the selection process of the 12 Marias is going on, this is probably due to the cold, perhaps they can't go around in their princess-dresses in this cold.

So, as a learning from this experience, I think that if you have to plan yor carnival visit, this year may not be the best time - better to look for a year when carnival falls in late February or March! But if you are only interested in beautiful costumes, I think that they would be there, may be not as many but you will see them, in spite of the cold!

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The angel queen of Venice called Maria

Carnival of Venice is famous for its beautiful masks and costumes. The carnival celebrations last for about ten days starting with the procession of 12 most beautiful girls of Venice. This procession is known as the Festival of the Marias.

This post is about the Festival in which 12 beautiful Venetian girls  are dressed as princesses and one of them becomes the Queen of Venice and the angel in the "Flight of Angel" festival of the carnival.

A Brief History of the Festival of Marias
Around 9th century CE, the Republic of Venice had a tradition linked with the religious festival of “Purity of Maria” and was celebrated on 2nd February of each year. During this festival, 12 beautiful girls of Venice belonging to poor families were selected to be Marias. Each girl was provided beautiful clothes and jewellery by a rich Venetian family and helped to get married.

However, over centuries, the rich families were not very happy to give away their money. Even some poor families, when their girls were not selected as Marias, were also unhappy with this festival.

Thus, instead of selecting the poor girls, they started carrying wooden Marias with clothes and jewellery of the rich families. After the procession, the clothes and jewellery was returned to the owners.

However, Venetians did not like the idea of wooden Marias and they started throwing rotten vegetables at them during the processions. Doge, the ruler of Venice, tried with a law prohibiting the throwing of rotten vegetables but it did not have much impact and slowly, the festival procession was stopped.

This festival was revived in 1999 as a part of the Carnival celebrations. Now, it is organised on the first day of the Carnival, around 10 days before the Mardi Gras celebrations.

The selection process starts a long time before the carnival. Girls resident in the Venice province can take part in this process.

Procession of the Marias

The procession starts in the afternoon around 2.30 PM from San Pietro di Castello in Venice and culminates in San Marco square where the 12 Marias are officially presented to the people of Venice.

There are two groups of Marias in the procession – those of the previous year and those selected for the present year. They are accompanied by different groups of persons dressed in medieval costumes coming from Venice and neighbouring towns.

A big group of persons in the procession are those wearing medieval costumes of warriors and crusaders.

Another group is that of drummers dressed in medieval costumes.

Another big group is that of persons dressed as noble families of Venice with richly embroidered and colourful dresses.

Then there are clowns, dancers, acrobats.

The 12 Marias from the past year wear dark brown richly embroidered costumes. For part of the procession, they are carried on palanquins by a group of Venetian men.

They are followed by the Marias selected for the current year wearing rich brocades.

There are also the wooden Marias in the procession, though now they do not wear real costumes or jewellrey.

It is a beautiful procession and if you plan to visit the carnival of Venice, make sure to be there for the Festival of Marias.

After the Festival of Marias

On Monday, a day before Mardi Gras (last day of the carnival), among the 12 Marias, one girl is selected to be Ms Carnival or the Queen Maria for the next 12 months, a kind of Miss Venice.

One year later, the Queen Maria will become the Angel for the “Flight of Angel” festival of the Venice Carnival, during which a girl descends from the bell tower in the San Marco square.

Conclusions

Venice is a unique city, unlike any other city in the world. During carnival, Venice becomes magical. Most people think that carnival means colourful costumes and masks on the weekend leading to Mardi Gras. However, Festival of Marias is a wonderful inauguration of the carnival celebrations.

I love the Carnival Celebrations in Venice even if it is very crowded. The colurs, the joy and richness of costumes and masks, makes up for all the noise and confusion.

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The Dancing Gods of Thayyem

"Theyyam" is a religious folk dance from the south of India. It is characterised by intricate make-up and beautiful costumes in striking colours with a predominance of orange, red and yellow. A visual kaleidoscope with a profound spiritual connection makes Theyyam a unique experience.

Spiritual Background and Meanings of Theyyam

Hinduism is based on the idea of all pervading universal consciousness known as Brahman, which has no beginning or end. Thus, mountains, trees, animals, birds and humans, everything animate or inanimate are the expression of Brahman and indicate a unity of all life forms.

In Hinduism, this idea of Brahman is coupled with Gods, one deity for each of the millions of life forms. In Theyyam, the dancer asks a God to come and become manifest in his body. Thus, during the dance-ritual, the dancer becomes an expression of God.

In other parts of India, there are persons who can go into trance and become "a channel of God" to speak and interact with people. For example, in north India they call it "Devi aayi hai" or the "Goddess has come". However, in Theyyam the invocation of God in human body is formalised and accompanied by specific costumes and rituals.

Theyyam Areas in Kerala

Theyyam is widespread in northern parts of Kerala state, especially around the town of Kannur. Each village and temple has its own Theyyam based a specific God or Goddess or local hero.

There are about 450 kinds of Theyyams. Each Theyyam has its own day during the year when its function will be organised in the village. Theyyam dancers are only men, usually from Hindu lower castes. Only one kind of Theyyam dancers are women.

Theyyam Preparation and Ritual

Around three weeks before the Theyyam celebration, the dancers start a period of abstinence to purify their bodies and minds. One day before Theyyam, they carry out a special invocation prayer called Thattam.

On the day of Theyyam, the dancer prepares his make-up using natural colours. During the make-up, their faces will carry complex designs for their specific Theyyam God and they will wear the ritual dress which is created and maintained by the dancer's family. The facial make-up for each Theyyam is also known as "Face-writing". The costumes include an elaborate head-dress and a breast-plate.

After completing the make-up and putting on the costume, the Theyyam dancer is shown his face in a mirror. This ritual is called Mukhadarshanam. It completes the arrival of God in his body. From that moment he ceases to be seen as human and becomes the manifestation of a specific God or Goddess.

During Theyyam, the specific story or the myth associated with that God is re-enacted. It takes place in front of a shrine, usually a sacred groove of trees. There is no stage and the dancer remains surrounded by believers. People play an active role in the enactment of the sacred story. They ask for the blessings of the God and sometimes ask questions to the Theyyam about their personal issues and problems.

Challenges Facing the Theyyam Traditions
Usually Theyyam dancers do it as a part of their family tradition and there is no or little income from it. With increasing modernisation, urbanisation and technology, it is becoming difficult for individuals to maintain complex social traditions like that of Theyyam, even if it has deep roots in the myths and cultures of the local societies.

Traditions like Theyyam are also under attack because some persons look at them as superstitions, or old fashioned backward rituals. They ignore its social roots and relevance, and look at it in isolation.

Theyyam plays a social role in the complex hierarchy of castes among Hindus. For example, in an interview, a Theyyam dancer said that though socially he belongs to a lower caste, when he becomes Theyyam, persons of all castes including Brahmins and upper caste persons must bend before him and ask for his blessing.

Over the past few years, government departments of culture and tourism are supporting to keep alive Theyyam, by including it as a part of cultural programmes and providing some income generation opportunities to the Theyyam dancers. Even if in such programmes, Theyyam is perceived only as an exotic visual experience, it provides an incentive for the dancers to valorise their skills and to continue the tradition in their own local communities.

Theyyam Face Make-up in Kochi Folk-lore Museum

The Folk-lore Museum of Kochi has a collection of wooden heads illustrating the different "Face-Writing" designs made for different Gods and personas used in Theyyam. One of these is shown below.

Visiting Theyyam Dance in Kerala

Theyyam ritual dances are organised in villages in north Kerala during winter - especially between October to April. There is a weekly calendar of Theyyam events happening in different villages around the city of Kannur. You can find out it from different websites - here are two examples - TheyyamCalendar and KannurTravel.

Thus, if you want to observe a Theyyam ritual dance in its local village context, check the calendar and plan your visit to Kannur.

Conclusions

I have only seen Theyyam as a part of cultural programmes, as street art and as museum artifacts. I have used the images from those different encounters with Theyyam in this post. However, I hope one day to visit Kannur and see it as part of the local spiritual-religious tradition.

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PS: In 2018, I had visited Kunoor and visited the sacred ceremonies of Theyyam in 2 villages. I was accompnaied by a local guide. It was an unforgettable experience, not just for the beautiful and exotic costmes and dances, but for its spirituality. 

Actors Prepare - From Ravan to Mahatma Gandhi

I love watching actors get ready for their roles. I find fascinating the process of putting make-up and costumes and to see the person change form in front of me. Over the years, I have had some great opportunities to watch the actors get ready for their roles. This post presents some of my favourite images of the theatre actors from India, Italy and some other countries.

India - Actors of Ramlila and Other Sacred Stories

Let me start with some images from India. All these images are related to Ramlila, the enactment of Hindu epic Ramayan. During the days leading to the festival of Dusshera, hundreds of Ramlila plays are organised across big and small towns in northern and central parts of India.

The first image above is from the Bhaona enactment of Ramayan at the Majuli island in Assam (India). The actors were getting ready for the "Sita Swayamvar" scene, where princess Sita has to choose her bridegroom and different kings have come from all over India, hoping to marry her. The image shows the actor playing Lord Ram help one of the actors playing the role of a rival king, get ready.

I have some wonderful memories of watching Ramlila as a child at the DCM grounds near Rohtak Road in Delhi. I was especially fascinated by the figure of Ravan, the Rakshas king with ten heads, who kidnaps Sita. His booming laugh made me feel afraid, but I also felt a bit of pity for him.

The image below is from Ser Jatra from Puri in Odisha during which actors wear masks and go in a procession. The image shows the actor playing Ravan getting ready with a ten-headed black mask, along with an actor playing Arjun (from the epic Mahabharat).

In Delhi, one of the oldest Ramlila traditions is from Chandni Chowk in the old city, started during the reign of Mughal king Bahadur Shah Zafar. This Ramlila play takes place in the open grounds at Ajmeri Gate, known as Ramlila grounds. The actors of this Ramlila get ready at a Dharamshala near Esplanade Road in Chandni Chowk. The image below shows the actor playing Lord Ram's younger brother Lakshman, get ready. The make up man is Mr Shyam Chandra Trikha who has been doing make up for this Ramlila for the last 25 years.

Often people playing actors say that for them playing a role in Ramlila is a kind of sacred benediction.

The last image of the Ramlila actors is from Kochi in Kerala, at the southern tip of India. The Kathakkali actor is getting ready for a temple dance-drama performance. Kathakkali has specific rules about the colours to be used for the make-up of different characters.

The next three images are of characters from other sacred stories of India. The first is of the Goddess Durga and is from the Ser Jatra in Puri in Odisha. The person getting ready to wear the Durga mask is a man, Mr. Bhimsen Mahapatra.

From Sikkim in the north to Kerala in the south, India has a wonderful tradition of using masks in the traditional theatre and dances. The use of masks provides ready-made faces for theatre, thus avoiding the need of spending hours on make-up. The next image has the masked Buddhist monks from Sikkim in the traditional Vajra (Lightening) dance.

The last image is that of Mr. Sunil Kumar getting ready to play Yamraj, the god of death, for the Ramlila procession in Chandni Chowk (Delhi), where he is going to sit with a noose around the head of an actor playing Markandeya.

The story of Yamraj and the boy Markandeya, where the boy is saved from death by Lord Shiva, appears in two sacred texts - Bhagwat Puran and Mahabharat. I ask him, why there are Yamraj and Markandeya in a Ramlila procession, since they are not a part of the Ramayan story? With his flashing eyes and a shining scimitar, Sunil Kumar does look a little scary, till he smiles at me benevolently, shaking his head. He would make for a wonderful image in the procession and their audience knows their story, so it is does not matter if he is a visiting celebrity from another sacred story.

Actors prepare in Europe

The next few images are from Bologna (Italy) where I had my first experiences of watching actors prepare for their roles.

The next image is of Mario Barzaghi, an Italian theatre actor and dancer who is also a trained Kathakkali dancer, getting ready for his role as Hanuman from the Indian epic Ramayan. This image can give you an idea of hours of preparation needed for the make-up and putting on of the Kathakkali costumes. The day I had clicked this picture, he was going to enact the episode when Hanuman flies to Lanka in search of Sita.

It is said that early Romans and Greek actors did not use any make-up or costumes. The use of the masks in the plays came much later. The traveling actor-comedians of the Italian Commedia dell’Arte in the 16th century had developed a set of stock characters, such as Arlecchino, who used masks. The image below shows some medieval puppets from the Bargellini museum of Bologna, wearing iconic costumes and masks of the Commedia dell'Arte era.

Introduction of electricity in the 19th century provided better lighting for theatre. Thus actors had to change their make-up techniques to adapt to the lights on the stage. In 1890 Carl Baudin used a mixture of flesh-coloured paste of zinc white, yellow ochre, vermilion, and lard, which was given the name of grease-paint. Even today often we use the term grease-paint to talk about the make-up of actors but with time, now we have much better water-soluble make-up. Rather than flashy and gaudy colours, modern theatre prefers the natural look with its own techniques of make-up.

The next three images are all from cultural events in Bologna showing actors putting on the make-up with water soluble colours to paint rainbows on their bodies.

The last image above has my friend Jana Daniela as the make-up artist. Jana herself is a cinema actor and has used amazing make-up for her role as a zombie in a recent film.

Actors From Americas

The next image shows animal-masks used by a Brazilian dance group from south America.

The second image from Americas is from Washington D.C. (USA) where the two actors of Indian origin, Subodh Sen and Natwar Gandhi, are getting ready respectively for the roles of Jinnah and Mahatma Gandhi for the play "A Tryst with Destiny", about the independence of India.

Conclusions

Selecting images for this post was immensely pleasurable. I loved going through my image archives to search for them, and in the process, rememberd many of those performances and the persons behind the make-up.

The concluding image of this photo-essay is of Mario Barzaghi getting ready to play Hanuman for the Kathakkali performance.

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