PROPOSED 2010 CARNIVAL IN FREO PROGRAMME

The 2010 event needs to be seen as a small scale pilot study which will not be too ambitious, but which will help to fulfill the longer term objective of establishing a larger annual event over the coming years. An important function of the programme is to educate those who may not be familiar with Carnival tradition about the nature of the annual Carnival ritual.

1. Photographic Exhibition: ‘The Carnival of the Italian Countryside’ (Opening 5th February running until 14th February)

This is an exhibition of Carnival as it is celebrated to this day in small towns of Italy, including Calabria, Campania and the Italian Alps. In contrast to the usual focus on the more commercialised and globalised Carnivals like Venice and Rio, these Carnivals highlight the more archaic ritual aspects which are at the very roots of the ancient Carnival tradition, as a way of projecting the concept of Carnival to the many people in Australia who will be unfamiliar with this vibrant popular tradition.

Traditional Calabrian Carnival ‘devil’ in front of an unfinished home, San Demetrio Corone, Province of Cosenza. Photo: Angelo Maggio

Angelo Maggio is one of the leading contemporary photographers of Southern Italian traditional festivals, and over the last fifteen years has built up a huge archive of festivals in Sicily, Campania, Basilicata, Calabria and more recently, the Italian Alps.

The opening of the exhibition would mark the official opening of ‘Carnival in Freo 2010’ at the beginning of February, providing inspiration for those who wish to enter into the ensuing Carnival festivities.

Curator: Ross McCallum

2. Commedia dell’Arte and Maskmaking workshops (weekend of 6 February and Saturday 13 February)

Facilitators: Giri Mazzella and Sanjiva Margio of Fremantle’s Commedia Academy of Australia

Venue: Fibonacci Centre, Blinco Strret
These workshops would assist in preparations for the event at Kulcha on the Saturday night, and help to promulgate these two traditions which are strongly linked to Italian Carnival.

3. Masked Carnival Concert at Kulcha, Saturday evening 13 February 2010 (last weekend of Carnival)
Facilitator: Jon Cope, General Manager, Kulcha, Fremantle.

4. Carnival procession through Streets of Fremantle to Kulcha Masked Carnival Concert Saturday evening, 13 February
Facilitator: Thomas Kerkmeer
Carnival traditionally takes place in public space, so the procession will help to bring the spirit of Carnival to the streets of Fremantle.

5. ‘Carnival in Freo 2010’ website
Due to go live in early October, this website will inform and educate about Carnival traditions, publicise ‘Carnival in Freo 2010’ events and build a Carnival network amongst local institutions involved in the project.

Facilitator: Ross McCallum

PUBLICITY:

• Fremantle Carnival @ Facebook
• Carnival in Freo 2010 website:
• Fremantle Herald have indicated their interest in running stories on Carnival in Freo.
• Promotion through Kulcha, Fremantle Council and other networks

WHAT IS ‘CARNIVAL’?

In many Catholic and Orthodox countries, Carnival developed as a popular response to the Church’s traditional Lenten period of penitence and self-denial in the 40 days leading up to Easter. Carnival thus provides an escape valve before the onset of Lenten austerities through a ritualized (and outrageous) ‘farewell to the flesh’ (‘carne vale’).

This annual ritualised ‘festival of disorder’ aims to temporarily turn the established social order on its head, through masquerade, cross dressing, music, dance and popular ridicule of established authorities such as the Church, State, academic institutions, politicians, police and the military.

Although Venice and Rio have the most widely known Carnivals, there are a host of regional variations reflected today in the Carnivals still celebrated by many different communities in Fremantle and Perth (see links below). It is hoped that the Carnival in Freo project can mobilise the rich cultural resources already present in our local community, including the Italian, Portuguese, German, Dutch, French and Latin American communities.

TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT CARNIVAL TRADITIONS AROUND THE WORLD:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnival

Brazilian_Carnival
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilian_Carnival
http://carnaval.terra.com.br/2009/

Venetian Carnival
http://www.italyguides.it/us/venice_italy/pictures_of_venice/browse_topi...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnival_in_Venice

Carnival of Venice Photo gallery: http://www.carnevale.venezia.it/en/gallery.html
New Orleans Mardi Gras: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Orleans_Mardi_Gras
Italian Commedia dell'Arte characters (the heart of Italian Carnival): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commedia_dell%27Arte

CONTACT:
Stephen Bennetts
93317710 | 0404674261
bennes06@tartarus.uwa.edu.au