“Masks, ancestral rituals, and the path to recognition” is the title of the round table featuring Georgiana Vlahbei (National Museum of the Romanian Peasant), M.ª Pilar Panero (University of Valladolid), and Roberto Afonso (Iberian Academy of the Mask). Also participating were Portuguese sociologist Patrícia Cordeiro, an expert in heritage management, and local authorities from Mogadouro and Bemposta. The session was introduced by Márcia Barros, Councillor for Culture of the Municipality of Mogadouro.
Georgiana Vlahbei, who traveled to Portugal with the Cucci din Branesti delegation, presented “From Living Ritual to Suspended Heritage: A Look at the Cuco Tradition/Festival in Brănești, Romania.” She explained this New Year’s celebration and the festival they organize, which aligns closely with that of Bemposta. She also highlighted the importance of museums in preserving memory and reinforcing the significance of masked festival traditions.
Pilar Panero, principal investigator of MASKS, “Craftsmanship and Mask in Castile and León,” spoke about the types of artisans in the region and used her presentation to showcase the contents of the MASK website to the audience. She recalled her participation in the 4th meeting in 2024, when the project was just starting. She reviewed the achievements made in recent months and encouraged the audience to visit the website. She concluded by announcing upcoming actions and thanking the entire consortium for their commitment and the quality of their contributions.
Under the title “Masquerades: A Past that Inspires the Future” Roberto Afonso presented a prospective view of several ongoing initiatives in Trás-os-Montes and the opportunities the mask culture offers to the regions, using Portugal as an example. He shared his extensive knowledge, being the owner of a beautiful collection of Portuguese masks and other folk arts.
“From Christmas to Carnival: Classification and Inventory Processes of Ritual Festivals with Masks” was the presentation by Patrícia Cordeiro. She is responsible for registering the Carnival of Podence with INPCI and on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. She is currently the Technical-Scientific Coordinator of the Heritage, Tourism, and Well-being Area at the MORE-Montanhas Collaborative Research Laboratory.
This small Portuguese town is becoming a major ethnographic gathering point. A parade featured 70 groups from four countries (Portugal, Spain, Italy, and Romania), many of them MASKS collaborators. The event is organized by the Maschocalheiro Association with support from the Municipality of Mogadouro and the European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation Duero-Douro. This cross-border association has been recognized by UNESCO as a model of good practice in heritage safeguarding, by the European Commission through its “Cultural Routes” program, and by many experts who acknowledge the efforts to highlight the value of winter rituals and other masked festivals in the annual festive cycle. The event also includes a craft market, many of whose stalls are mask-related.
MASKS would like to thank the Maschocalheiro Association, the Municipality of Mogadouro, and the Duero-Douro European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation for the opportunity to present our progress to an interested audience.
Photographs courtesy of Carlos Blanco Fernández.
