carnival-miguelturra-stage-exposition

The Carnival on Stage exhibition inaugurated

“Carnival on stage. Types of the comedy of Art”, will remain open at the CERE until March 18

On Friday, January 26 at around 8:30 p.m. at the CERE (Cultural Center), the mayor of Miguelturra, Victoria Sobrino, inaugurated the exhibition “Carnival on Stage. Types of the Comedy of Art.” She was accompanied by Francisco Javier Navarro Haro, Provincial Director of Education for the Regional Government of Castilla-La Mancha; Luis Alberto Lara Contreras, Provincial Deputy of the Provincial Council of Ciudad Real; Diego Rodríguez, Councilor for Festivities for the Miguelturra City Council; Nuria Sánchez, Exemplary Churriega 2017; and Jorge Jiménez, curator of the exhibition. The inauguration was supported by a very large audience that filled the hall. The councilor expressed her gratitude for the holding of these events, which help achieve a common goal: the declaration of the Miguelturra Carnival as a Festival of National Tourist Interest.

Jorge Jiménez, curator of the exhibition, began his speech with a plea about the value of MOMO. Carnival Interpretation Center as a very competitive cultural product and service. He remembered when the space was designed – a project in which he participated – it was done in a very ambitious way, trying to be a reference. To this end, a large number of cross-cutting development lines were included to keep MOMO alive. One of these is the temporary exhibition hall, which was bustling with life yesterday.

A mix of carnival and theatre

The exhibition combines carnival with the world of theater. It explores how a new theatrical genre emerged during the Italian Renaissance, as the first theater companies became professional. This is known as the “Commedia dell’arte”. This is not born from nothing, but arises from a very rich popular tradition that floods the public square, in it we find everything from acrobats to farces, from jesters to blind storytellers, and of course, the thousand and one manifestations of the carnival.

Carnival was introduced into this theatrical genre, which lasted more than three centuries. It traveled throughout Europe and the rest of the known world, with its characteristic characters on stage. These were stereotypes, they acted with masks and always played the same role. They were divided into three: the servants, the old and the lovers. Among them, the most famous are Pantaleon, Harlequin, Pierrot… Names that are familiar to us all because they are deeply rooted in our culture. When the genre became exhausted and died, the common people didn’t let these characters disappear. They live on in the carnival from which they were born, so we’re talking about a two-way relationship.  
 

Gobi

 
The exhibition consists of more than sixty pieces including prints, costumes, books, toys and a contemporary art mural made specifically for it by the artist Roberto Carretero “Gobi”.
 
This piece will especially delight local audiences. In it, the artist addresses something so typical of Miguelturra: the Hermitage of Christ and the street mask. It also includes three stage sets to tell us what the stages of the Commedia dell’Arte were like: the world of the mask and ballet, along with two supporting audiovisual resources. With it the viewer will be able to see the complete series of illustrations by the Frenchman Maurice Sand, part of which was already used to create some of the MOMO rooms.
 
To conclude the event, Jorge Jiménez recalled Victoria Sobrino’s words at FITUR, when she said that Miguelturra was destined to be the tourist gateway to Campo de Calatrava. Something the curator agreed with, bearing in mind that MOMO is the key to that gateway.