Mummers:

Mummers would traditionally burn their elaborate willow, flax, rush and straw headpieces after each performance, but today the masks are too valuable to destroy.

Mexican:
The Viejos (old men) and Viejas (old women) masks are made from leather, paper mache and wax on paper.

Hanging with the Mexican masks is a picture representing The 52 Year Cycle. The Aztecs believed every 52 years the gods could destroy humanity and the world would be renewed. For five days before the end of the cycle people all over the Aztec world destroyed furniture and possessions and went into mourning for the world.


African:
Many African masks include animal features to give the wearer the speed, the power, and the intelligence of that animal.


Performance:
The Noh masks are carved originally from Hinoli wood or Japanese cedar that has been allowed to soak in water for over six months. The carving of a Noh mask needs extreme precision which has taken over 800 to 900 years to develop to the present technique. For every carving there is a specific tool for the job.

Last week, our marketing intern Rebecca Meyer, interviewed Tony Donoghue, Masks! Exhibition Designer and mask collector, pictured below with some of the African masks in our exhibition. Here's what she found out...

Tony Donoghue has been collecting Mexican masks for twenty five years. He first started collecting in 1983 while working for the British Museum in London. Tony began collecting objects of ethnographic interest including various masks. In 1985 he moved to Los Angeles, California where he became the curator for a gallery. His passion for Mexican masks strongly developed in 1999 after working with the various Chicano artists in the gallery. Tony was hooked after that!

He became extremely fascinated by the ongoing, vibrant Mexican culture and is more interested in everyday masks used in festivities rather than rare or valuable ones. Skeletons and devils are not usually made to scare people in the Mexican culture; they are mostly used for celebrations or in a playful way. Tony finds it extraordinary how children would have as many Diablos and Muertes as toy dogs.

Tony has travelled all around Mexico collecting various masks from different places including: Baja, Guerrero, Zinuatanejo, Pueblo, Michochan, Acapulco, San Cristobal, Mexico State, and Oaxaca. He prefers to purchase his masks from the maskmaker of the village and intends to continue to collect. His masks vary in age but the oldest masks are two Viejos from 1950. Tony's Mexican mask collection includes: Muertes (skeletons), Diablos (devils), religious faces, Viejos and Viejas (old men and women), Transformations (1/2 human, 1/2 animal), Animales (animals), and Caballeros (warriors)! Tony plans to shoot a short film with mixed animation and live action in a Mexican village soon. He is particular fascinated by "Tigre" dances which are part of vibrant ongoing Mexican culture!

Children and their families have the chance to see the smallest mask in the world as part of our Masks! exhibition.

The red nose - the smallest mask in the world - is on display as part of Masks in Performance, on the second floor of The Ark.

We even have a couple for you to try on... if you feel like clowning around!


Masks! continues until 17 August.

On Thursday, 3 July, The Ark welcomed Martin Cullen, T.D., Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism to launch Masks!

Some of our young guests had fun trying on masks...

It was an enjoyable afternoon with plenty to see and do for all the family, including a taster of mask-making workshops, led by our Ark artists...

Masks! exhibition and workshops for all ages run at The Ark until 17 August.

There is an exciting buzz in The Ark right now as we prepare to launch our fascinating summer project Masks! later this week. Rain or shine, we're gearing up for a jam-packed summer of mask making fun.

Tomas Hardiman, the Curator, Tony Donoghue, the Exhibition Designer, Mark Rooney, The Ark's Production Manager and Francesco Bistoni, The Ark's Assistant Production Manager, have spent the past few weeks, drilling, building, painting, setting up and preparing the masks for the exhibition. Some of the hand made displays will feature interactive activities, making it fun for the whole family.

Tony and Mark set up the African masks.

Masks have always held a fascination and a magic that everyone can relate to and the traditions and rituals associated with them are many and complex. The aim of this exhibition is to create an accessible way for children and their families to tap into some of that magic together. The exhibition is arranged as an introduction which will hopefully lead to an enhanced appreciation of these objects of wonder. We're presenting these masks in a way which we hope will entertain and inform the whole family and hope you will be able to join us at The Ark this summer.