Sunday Safari - March Hares

Celia Hart, March Hares

Óscar Villán, Lebres

Nikolai Tyrsa

Mark Hearld, Hares 

Dan May, Roscoe's Fall 

Kyoko Imazu, Bob the hare 

 Anna Pugh, Moon Run

 Nicky Clacy, Feeding Hare 

 Catherine Rayner, thanks to Shelley Davies

Mary Sumner, Coastal hair, thanks to the art room plant

 Joianne Bittle, Jackrabbit

Brian Wildsmith, Hare and tortoise, 1966, thanks to Vintage Kids' Books My Kid Loves

Renée Treml

Gods and Monsters

  La Bestia (the beast) by Umberto & Stefano Cinquini, 

a metaphor of Berlusconi's monstrous power over Italian media

It's time again for our report from Viareggio's annual Carnival parade

of large, wild, colorful and amazing papier-mache floats. Most of the creations 

were inspired by various controversial contemporary issues. I wonder what they 

will come up with next year; they already have plenty of material to work with!

 Trilogia della ruggine, epilogo (final installment of The Rust Trilogy)

by Gilbert Lebigre & Corinne Roger. This double-sided float 

featured a decadent and lascivious Italian "operetta" on one side and 

this joyful Indian style celebration of love blessed by Ganesh on the other

the innovative La cieca umanità (Blind humanity) by Edoardo Ceragioli, 

 inspired by Picasso's Guernica, won the first prize for mask groups

musical owls and a wigged cow from two of the other mask groups

two views of Embrioni chimera (Chimera embryos) by Fabrizio Galli

L’erba di casa mia (Green grass of home) by Jacopo Allegrucci

represents Italy as a lawn peopled by bugs and praying mantis-politicians

Razze in via di estinzione (Species near extinction) by Enrico Vannucci

two views of Urla selvagge (Wild screams) by Gionata Francesconi & Giacomo Marsili

  Non essere sgomento… se la legge va a rilento!!! (Don't be dismayed... if the law goes slow!) by Alfredo Ricci

 I can't remember from which float I photographed this detail 

 La Mattanza (The slaughter) by Carlo Lombardi cautions against oil spills

detail from Abissi (The depths) by Franco Malfatti

a sequence from the winning float, the wonderfully scary Rexpubblica by Alessandro Avanzini.

These still photos give only a pale impression of the full impact of the floats in action,

 complete with moving parts, smoke and light effects, loud music and costumed dancers. 

But you can watch some of the videos on YouTube to get a better idea...

Carnival Animals

As mentioned in a previous post, I recently visited my hometown of Viareggio 

on the Tuscan coast to participate in the local Carnival festivities. The main events 

of the month long extravaganza are five parades of huge allegorical papier-maché floats

 (up to twenty meters tall) and masks accompanied by musical bands along the large

 beachside promenade known as "La Passeggiata". At the end of the festival, a jury awards

 prizes to the best floats. Started as a local celebration in 1873, the Carnival gradually

became one of Italy's most famous. Nowadays it attracts over 1.000.000 visitors every year.

This year's winning float, the ecological Earth, the only mother by Roberto Vannucci

Detail from Stolen love by Massimo Breschi, thanks to Luciano Castro on flickr

The themes represented on floats and masks range from political satire and social 

commentary to caricatures of celebrities and pure flights of fancy. This year's subjects

 included Obama, a variety of Berlusconis, a Metropolis-inspired automaton, a spooky 

Michael Jackson, and the monster above symbolizing violence against women. 

The characters are animated by various workers hosted in their complex wooden structures. 

A number of singers and dancers in costume also contribute to the floats' lively appearance.

Second place was awarded to Dance of the Dragon by Verlanti and F.lli Bonetti,

an allegory of China's rising power. I especially enjoyed the special effects: glowing eyes

 (a popular feature this year) and smoke coming out of the dragon's mouth.

A group of masks that really caught my eye was Fish and Plastic by Roberto De Leo, 

7 papier maché aquatic creations decorated with plastic cups, straws, cutlery, 

bottles and other materials.

In recent times there's been quite a bit of experimentation with new forms, techniques

 and materials. Last year my dear friends Gilbert Lebigre and Corinne Roger, a couple 

of artists who moved from France to Viareggio thirty years ago to follow their passion 

for papier maché, built a float featuring an awesome group of geese covered in feathers

 made of plastic bags. Their latest production, inspired by Italy's growing 

government-fueled anti-immigration paranoia, was also insanely great.