There is a new exhibition in Luhačovice. Masks, costumes and masquerades in the main role

Masks have been part of many customs and traditions in the past. In rural areas, people used to mask themselves especially on the occasion of various ceremonial rites held from the pre-Christmas period until the end of Shrovetide. Older types of masks depicted various demons and figures symbolising changes in nature and in the cycle of human life. As society changed, so did the masks, and alongside the older types, new current themes were applied.

The exhibition presents masks and costumes from the collection of the Museum of Southeast Moravia in Zlín, masks borrowed from nearby museums and villages, and also from private wearers. It includes a range from archaic types of fur masks of the South Wallachian devils to sophisticated masquerade costumes from the First Republic carnivals and Sokol shibrinas, made by trained tailors.

The exhibition is accompanied by black-and-white and colour photographs of carnival rounds from the photo archive of the Museum of Southeast Moravia in Zlín, taken over several decades by museum ethnographers Karel Pavlištík, Zuzana Marhoulová, Alena Prudká and Blanka Petráková.

In addition to the archival museum images, a set of black-and-white photographs of Mikulas' rounds from the southern Wallachia and Hornolideč region, provided to the museum by photographer Jan Horáček on the occasion of this exhibition, is particularly interesting for its high artistic quality and documentary value. The exhibition is also accompanied by a selection of Ludmila Vašková's paintings of carnival rides.

The exhibition will run until mid-September 2022 and the museum is preparing a number of accompanying programmes, workshops and lectures.

Categories: Tourism, What to do in Luhačovice, Tips for a trip, Why to Luhačovice, Luhačovice, Museum of the Luhačovice Forest, Exhibition