The Savage, the Fool and the Bear & The Mamuthones


Michela BENAGLIA & Antonio D’AMBROSIO


Savages, Fools and Bears are represented in traditional myths and ancestral rites around the world in the form of anthropological masks that are at times very similar to each other. The masks are creatures from a parallel universe. They live inside every human being, they are the expression of our deepest and most ancestral instincts. Beasts or Monsters who do not need to hide the Man inside them.

In Mamoiada, a pagan rite is celebrated whose origins are lost in the mists of time. At the centre of the ritual are the Mamuthones and the Issohadores: two male characters who, although dressed differently and seemingly in contrast, are in fact complementary, inseparable and indisputable. The ritual begins with the dressing up, which reaches its climax when the Mamuthones and Issohadores put on their masks.

curators        Chiara RUBERTI, Enrico STEFANELLI
partner          Photolux Festival