Traditional Croatian Carnival Masks

Vukojevački starcevi

Till this year's carnival time I didn't even know that the small village of Vukojevci, Croatia in the region of Slavonija, has a traditional mask called "Vukojevački starcevi". This region & village is far away from my hometown & their carnival tradition is a bit different then in my area but the basics & origins are very similar.

Traditionally the members of this carnival group should be only not married men. They are also waring bells around their waist & they are also going around the villages ringing all day long with the purpose of chasing away the bad spirits & spirits of winter & with the colorful mask-hats inviting the spring to show us its colors of new life cycle.

In the same time, by the original custom, they should be running around the village & not walking but because of the lazy comfortable nowadays life they allow themselves to just walk.

This group has another interesting activity which is done quiet secretly - these men, during their village running are searching for the women who are not married & they should not uncover their face for the women to recognize them. Sometime before the running, the women who are not married can secretly give a bandanna to the men of their choice & that is a code how the men during the running can be recognized by their chosen women. The men ware the bandanna somewhere on their uniform where it can be seen. This is the way how the women recognize their men. The men are not allowed to uncover their face until the end of running, till evening time, when the dance gathering is organized somewhere in the village as the culmination of the day.

On this shot it looks like this mask facing me is a woman. I was a bit intrigued by it.

Sovinjski pusti

These carnival group I have seen many times before but I never knew more about them. Sovinjak is a small village very close to Opatija, my hometown, geographically in the same region called Istria, just across Učka mountain.

In Croatian "sova" means owl, so we might assume that the village Sovinjak got it's name by the owls. It's possible that owls were living there maybe still do. "Sveta zemja", in the Croatia dialect called "čakavski" means "Holy land" or "Sacred ground".

Traditionally, in this group, there should also be only men who are not married. They would also go ringing wildly around the village all day long with the same purpose - to chase away the winter & invite spring to come. But another interesting activity they performed is also connected with the women who are not married in the village. The masked men would seek or even chase the unmarried women in the village & tear a small piece of cloth from their clothes & sew it in their uniform. That's why the uniform is so colorful. Another specific difference about their uniform is that they do not carry the bells around the waist but on the bottom end of the stick they're carry with them. By group hitting with sticks on the floor they're making the ringing noise.

As you can see, modern practice allows also the women & the children to be members of the group & the tradition evolves & changes according to the conditions of the modern times which we are living in.

Maybe you wonder why are they laying on the floor?! Well, there's another specific of this group! They have a canon which they fill in with carabit, I believe, or some other matter which produces the big bang. Every time when they fire that canon all of the group throw themselves on the ground like they are injured form the canon shot. This came from a legend that many years ago when this group have just started, they built a canon out of the fig tree & when they fired the 1st shot, the whole canon exploded & killed 5 men. That was a tragedy but now it's a joke.

During the parade in Matulji, food & drinks are free for all the participants of the parade. I like this moment where I captured this kid fully enjoying the donut.

But actually I like that the tradition has changed & that they allowed women to join the group & participate in the group activities.

I like the similarities of the origins of these two groups - about the unmarried men & women getting together in a very specific way. It corelates with the symbolism of chasing away the winter & inviting spring, vibrant colors & new cycle of life. Why? Because if the the unmarried meet, fall in love, get married & get a baby - they are also creating a new cycle of life! That is so sweet secret & how it is hidden behind the carnival!

All the upper shots I made with Nikon D800 & Sigma 105 mm 1:2.8 DG Macro HSM lens & for the self-portrait below I used the same camera but different lens - Nikon AF Nikkor 35-70 mm.

In the next few days I will be publishing photos from other bell-carrier groups cause all of them have a different uniform which is really interesting to see.

• 1st post: @careassaktart/traditional-croatian-carnival-masks-bell-carriers-from-bregi

In this article, which I published 5 years ago, I explained in details the Croatian Carnival traditions & my personal engagement in it: https://steemit.com/culturevulture/@careassaktart/carnival-festival-in-croatia

In the next few video which I've recorded, edited & published, you can see few traditional bell-carriers activities during the carnival time:

Bell-Carriers from Zvoneće coming to Mučići