Statues --> Europe
How to represent the European mask? From political and comic figures used in the greek-roman theater to the the traditional English masks of horse and deer. From the animalistic and fearfull interpretations of Eastern Europe to the Austrian depictions that are full of noisy bells and the famous italian Carnival.
The old continent is full of cultural traditions in which the mask is used especially for rituals of hunting and agriculture linked to historical events and beliefs of ancient and very different peoples.
Perhaps the only way is to go back in time, more and more back to the prehistoric age when man had not developed the cultural differences and slowly began to become aware of self. Men get a sense to his appearance and to his image reflected outwards.
The first drawing of a mask has been found in the caves of Lascaux in France and is dated 15 thousand years before Christ.
The oldest stone mask dates back to the pre-Neolithic period about 7000 years BC (Musee de la bible et Terre Sainte, Paris).
In this little museum Fabrizio Galli found the mask that represent the Europe in its more distant source. The mask is exposed between archaeological find, ceramics and objects of everyday life. It represents the first inexperted attempt to copy the human image.
A sketched and simple face that is reminiscent of a childish style: round eyes, a just formed nose and the mouth that cracks a smile. A circular figure as the moon that among the statues of the work "When the body dominates the mind" seems to conflict with the "Sun Mask".
"Sua Cuinque Persona" (To each one his mask) says an ancient Latin inscription of Ghilardaio. It is the strong reference to the role that each of us play in society, a role that both prehistoric peoples and modern have in common. A need, an instinct that once represented a way to frighten the enemy during the battle, to propitiate the gods or to insure a good harvest. Even today some people use masks to commemorate the spirits of animals and nature but in Europe people use masks above all during parties and in theater.
