Sunday, February 13, 2011

Boruca masks

This is a photo of the display of Baruca masks for sale in a store at the Diria Resort complex where we have one of our two condos. The mask are are carved from balsa wood, which has the two advantages of making them easier to carve and lighter for tourists to take them home in their suitcases.

The most common traditional themes are depictions of the devil. The Baruca culture's largest festival is the Juego de los Diabolitos, or Dance of the Little Devils.

Probably to appeal to the tourist market, many of the masks show Costa Rican tropical jungle themes such as toucans. Making handicrafts and selling them to tourists is the source of 80% of the income for the Baruca people. Masks are their primary craft. I will show a closer view tomorrow.

Today is Sunday, so we have new photos on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site, and we have a special treat for you this week. Bellagio, Italy is one of our favorite places, and we are showing photos of the Villa Melzi gardens. This is the real Bellagio. This ain't Vegas, baby.

6 comments:

Kate said...

I have a few small masks that I've picked up in México and Italy, but none quite like these. How about a close-up or two...would love to see that! PS. Tell Julie that I cannot get into the comment section on her blog, which happens every once in awhile. Would like her to know that I enjoy her technique on the heart post.

Judy said...

Wow! There are some bright and colorful masks there.

Sharon said...

I don't think I expected them to be so colorful! Wow, very interesting colors and shapes.

Julie ScottsdaleDailyPhoto.com said...

very colorful!

Jack said...

I was surprised at how colorful they are. Beautiful.

Unknown said...

I love masks. What a nice collection!

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