Hand Puppet Item Number: 3381/7 from the MOA: University of British Columbia
Description
Mamulengo hand puppet of a 'Cachoeira de Tapagé' character. Head and hands are carved from wood and painted. He has light beige skin, wide oval black eyes, rounded eyebrows, a pointed nose, and a wide grinning mouth. He has painted black hair. His fabric body / tunic is dark red with sleeves and skirt of a green fabric with large yellow, red, and orange-pink flowers. The fabric is adhered(?) to the hands and head, and wrapped with shiny brown ribbon at the wrists and neck. He holds a green liquor bottle in his left hand. 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 Jose Edvan Ferreira de (Maker) in Gloria do Goita, Pernambuco, Brazil during 2018
- Owned by Associacao Cultural de Amigos do Museu de Folclore Edison Carneiro before July 25, 2019
- Received from Associacao Cultural de Amigos do Museu de Folclore Edison Carneiro (Seller) and Museum of Anthropology Exhibitions Budget (Funding source) on July 25, 2019
What
Who
- Culture
- Brazilian
- Creator
- Jose Edvan Ferreira 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 July 25, 2019
- Acquisition Date
- on July 25, 2019
Other
- Condition
- good
- Accession Number
- 3381/0007