Hand Puppet Item Number: 3352/6 from the MOA: University of British Columbia
Description
Mamulengo hand puppet of a 'João Cacunda' character. Head, hands and feet are carved from wood and painted. Hands attach to plastic tubing underneath the fabric. He has grey-pink skin, and short white fuzzy hair, beard, and moustache. He has sunken cheeks, a hooked nose, an open red mouth, and large oval black eyes. His fabric body / tunic is green floral-pattern with blue floral sleeves. A clump of polyester batting is used to give the chest form. The fabric is adhered(?) to the hands and head, and wrapped with shiny blue ribbon at the wrists and neck. Operated by inserting a hand inside the body of the puppet to control its head and movements.
History Of Use
The puppet represents a character from a form of popular puppet theatre, found in northeastern Brazil, called mamulengo. This type of theatre is prevalent in disenfranchised communities with ancestral ties to colonized Indigenous peoples and uprooted, enslaved Africans. Mamulengo performances are entertaining events that can last all night long, with puppeteers (mamulengueiros) using 70 to 100 puppets in one staging. The stages are pop-up stands (empanadas), made of brightly coloured, floral-printed cloth. The shows consist of short sequences (passagens), or skits from popular stories that expose the inequalities and dramas of everyday life, profiling stock characters such as rich landowners and peasant labourers. The whole is spun together with humour, satire, lively music, and audience commentary.
Item History
- Made by Paulo Pereira de (Maker) in Gloria do Goita, Pernambuco, Brazil during 2018
- Owned by Associacao Cultural de Amigos do Museu de Folclore Edison Carneiro before May 28, 2019
- Received from Associacao Cultural de Amigos do Museu de Folclore Edison Carneiro (Seller) and Museum of Anthropology Exhibitions Budget (Funding source) on May 28, 2019
What
Who
- Culture
- Brazilian
- Creator
- Paulo Pereira de (Maker)
- Previous Owner
- Associacao Cultural de Amigos do Museu de Folclore Edison Carneiro
- Received from
- Associacao Cultural de Amigos do Museu de Folclore Edison Carneiro (Seller) and Museum of Anthropology Exhibitions Budget (Funding source)
Where
- Holding Institution
- MOA: University of British Columbia
- Made in
- Gloria do Goita, Pernambuco, Brazil
When
- Creation Date
- during 2018
- Ownership Date
- before May 28, 2019
- Acquisition Date
- on May 28, 2019
Other
- Condition
- fair
- Accession Number
- 3352/0006