The Carnival Masks of Jacmel, Haiti, Are a Papier-Maché Fever Dream – Repeating Islands


[Many thanks to Peter Jordens for bringing this item to our attention.] As a part of a particular sequence for 2022, Atlas Obscura is doing “a deep visible dive into fascinating Carnival traditions around the globe.” Matthew Taub presents Carnival within the coastal Haitian city of Jacmel. For full array of spectacular pictures of Jacmel carnival masks, go to Atlas Obscura.

Carnival within the coastal Haitian city of Jacmel is a showcase for Haiti’s artists and a visit via the trying glass for animal lovers. The city’s festivities are famend for the papier-maché masks that don’t a lot depict animals as conjure visions of them. The pictures are beautiful: from the tart crimson and yellow of the jaguar to the looking out eyes of the alligator, the artists of Jacmel provide Carnival-goers an expertise extra vivid than most films. (The repertoire extends to cowl many different creatures as nicely, together with celebrities and politicians.)

In fact, there’s extra to Carnival in Jacmel than world-class papier-maché, although that will certainly suffice. That is the prelude to Mardi Gras, in spite of everything. (The multicolored homes that line Jacmel’s streets are famous for having influenced the look of New Orleans, too.) As such, the streets are full of dancing, music, meals, and copious drink—from rum to well-known native espresso, as Jacmel was traditionally a hub within the espresso commerce.

Certainly, this comparatively small, deeply scenic seaside city is house to a wealthy historic legacy. Toussaint Louverture, a frontrunner of the Haitian Revolution, received management of Jacmel in 1800. Later, the Venezuelan revolutionary Francisco de Miranda first raised the flag of the Republic of Venezuela, liberated from Spanish rule, within the Bay of Jacmel. For the reason that January 2010 earthquake that devastated Haiti—Jacmel alone sustained a whole bunch of deaths and hundreds of accidents—renewed effort has gone into drawing vacationers to the Carnival of Jacmel, which UNESCO acknowledged in 2014 as a Inventive Metropolis of Crafts and People Arts.

Indigo Arts Gallery shared some papier-maché masks from Jacmel of their assortment with Atlas Obscura.

For full array of Carnival masks, see https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/carnival-masks-of-jacmel-haiti

[Shown above: “Carnaval 86” “Djab” Mask, unknown artist, 1986. ANTHONY H. FISHER/INDIGO ARTS GALLERY.]



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