{"id":9776,"date":"2025-08-22T16:09:49","date_gmt":"2025-08-22T21:09:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.alisonschwabe.com\/weblog\/?p=9776"},"modified":"2025-08-22T16:09:49","modified_gmt":"2025-08-22T21:09:49","slug":"inspiring-masks-exhibition-in-montevideo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alisonschwabe.com\/weblog\/?p=9776","title":{"rendered":"Inspiring Masks Exhibition in Montevideo"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A really interesting exhibition of artisan crafted theatrical masks opened last week in Montevideo, and will be showing in the Estela Medina Gallery at the Teatro Solis, Tuesdays through Sundays, 5pm to 7pm, until the end of October. You could add it to the itinerary for an afternoon in the city, or go early as a prelude to an evening at the theatre. I was too unwell to attend the opening, but visited the exhibition the following weekend, so parking was easy, right at the theatre itself, which is not the case mondays to fridays \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
I’ve already described mine, Monstruo Oscuro, in full here<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Entries could be on any theme, with free choice of materials and techniques. Works had to be sized within 40cm x 40cm x 15cm, and were limited to 1.5kg weight maximum. I’m proud to have my own entry selected, and it’s hanging mid-wall at one end of the innermost part of the gallery:<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

On the Saturday we went, there were a few people wandering in and out while we were there, so it was relatively easy to photograph each one with the artists’ statements or technical information. More than half the masks were made by Uruguayan artists; then there were entries from Chile, Argentina, Mexico and I was listed as Australian Uruguayan – nice! In addition, the international selectors were each invited to submit a mask, as were several professors and people involved in theatre arts here in Uruguay. It’s very impressive how the 50 artists outside that invitees group chose an incredible array of techniques and materials in answering the call. I’ve already described mine in full here<\/strong><\/a>, so won’t repeat all that, but let me share my favourites from this wonderful show.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Ana Lucia Vaiture and Maria Jose Penone UY. “Raices Ancestrales”.(Ancestral Roots) Their inspiring statement roughly translates as: ‘Her face is not carved but woven with patience and inherited knowledge, sprouting branches symbolising expanding minds and bonds of ritual. Each stitch combines body, identity, and territory in a living weaving as a textile metaphor for the carefully tended ancestral roots.<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"\"
“Animal” Oliver Gimenez UY. With the brief title and list of materials and technique, I love how the viewer has total freedom to interpret it. This creature does look very like ET, the extra-terrestrial in that 1982 sci-fi classic, but perhaps it’s a sloth with horns? Those eyes are particularly piercing… Intriguing and I LOVE it.<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"\"
“Ghost”, Doreen Bayley UY. Inspired by the movie of that name, Doreen used sheer and loose woven fabrics to depict the ethereal nature of a ghost.<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"\"
“Talia Brillante” Viginia D’Alto Alberti UY. This mask pays homage to Talia, the muse of comedy, who entertains by making us laugh, and when we laugh we shine. Her materials include fabric, adhesive, ribbons, various beads and sequins, and techniques include embroidery, quilting and beading.<\/strong><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"\"
“Mi Identidad” by Luz del Carmen X. Aldape, Mexico, presents her identity as a weaving combining cultural elements, some of them of opposing, presented in very Mexican symbols and use of bright clear colours<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"\"
Ana Maria Casnati UY “La Mascara de la Resistencia” addresses the imbalances between the remembered history of this region’s idigenous people and their presence in Uruguay’s population today. <\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"\"
“Rostro del Viento Azul” (The face of blue wind) Andrea Santero UY. In Japanese folklore, traditional red-faced, severely aggressive spirits inhabit the forests and mountains. This still forceful, but less aggresive blue face, with gold details represents a more contemplative version of those spirits’ mysterious wisdom. <\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"\"
“Gui\u00f1o” (wink) Tabar\u00e9 Gonella UY. The artist observed how intergenerational understanding was communicated between his father and older relatives in the blink of an eye<\/em><\/strong>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"\"
“El Besador” ( The Kisser) Carla Pinto CH. This fabulous mask of a witch-like figure refers to the alluring power of female sexuality. Lines of the basketry extending beyond the cheek suggest a woman posing to attract male attention – but is this her innate femininity or a deliberate seduction?<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"\"
“Limbus” Maria Benita Rodriguez UY. The artist’s mother is suffering age-related dimentia, by which she lives in the area between conscious function and what is now lost, and moving through the various stages of disconnection she displays fragile control of body and speech. On this intensely worked mask, stitches, beads and sequins represent moments of lucidity separated by unworked areas of disconnection.<\/strong><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

I hope these ten masks and my reactions to them help motivate you to visit this exhibition before the end of October !! <\/strong> And, if you’re an artist in Uruguay or other latin countries, keep an eye on the Facebook page CETU Centro de Arte Textil Uruguayo, which is how I hear about these things. As a fibre artist based here in Montevideo, I’m always grateful to the diligent efforts of Felipe Maqueira to spread information about upcoming opportunities, in addition to his worldwide coverage of interesting developments in the fibrearts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A really interesting exhibition of artisan crafted theatrical masks opened last week in Montevideo, and will be showing in the Estela Medina Gallery at the Teatro Solis, Tuesdays through Sundays, 5pm to 7pm, until the end of October. You could add it to the itinerary for an afternoon in the city, or go early as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6uxpF-2xG","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alisonschwabe.com\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9776","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alisonschwabe.com\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alisonschwabe.com\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alisonschwabe.com\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alisonschwabe.com\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9776"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.alisonschwabe.com\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9776\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9805,"href":"https:\/\/www.alisonschwabe.com\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9776\/revisions\/9805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alisonschwabe.com\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alisonschwabe.com\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alisonschwabe.com\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}