La Diablada de Píllaro, 2017, Tungurahua, Ecuador, digital photograph. Credit: Leonardo Carrizo
Anyone who visits Sullivant Hall’s Barnett Center Collaboratory this season will be greeted by a brightly colored barrage of Latin American festival masks.
According to the Barnett Center’s website, “Dancing with Devils: Latin American Masks Traditions,” opened Sept. 21 after its postponement due to COVID-19 in 2020. The array of masks comes from Ohio State’s Kawsay Ukhunchay: Andean and Amazonian Indigenous Art and Cultural Artifacts Research Collection. Photographs of the Diablada de Píllaro — Devil’s Dance of Píllaro — festival in Ecuador are on display as well, according to the website.
Leonardo Carrizo, photojournalist and multimedia journalism lecturer at Ohio State, said he captured every image featured in “Dancing with Devils.” He said traveling to the Ecuadorian province of Tungurahua to document the Diablada de Píllaro was an enriching experience, and he hopes observers will walk away with an increased awareness of Latin American cultures and artistic styles.
“We want to make a bridge between the community and the work and open a dialogue between different cultures,” Carrizo said.
Michelle Wibbelsman, the faculty curator of the Andean and Amazonian Indigenous Art and Cultural Artifact Collection, said those who put on the masks typically adopt a playful persona rather than an outrightly malicious one. Devils and diablos embody a sort of freedom from reality.
“It’s different than the European, Judeo-Christian concept of a devil,” Wibbelsman, an associate professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, said.
Amanda Tobin Ripley, student curator and doctoral student in museum education and administration, said diablos can defy social constructs during the six-day Diablada de Píllaro celebration. She said her favorite “Dancing with Devils” photo shows a diablo unabashedly touching a police officer’s face.
“It’s such an incredible moment,” Tobin Ripley said. “It speaks to lots of questions I have about power, authority and ways we work around it.”
Carrizo said his photos convey the exasperating, yet charismatic nature of interactions between diablos and the public.
“You get the devils there, but they’re the secondary subject,” he said. “It’s more about the engagement and how people respond to the devils.”
Wibbelsman said interaction is a fundamental component of the exhibition, and people can scan QR codes as they explore the space, seeking out additional information about the works.
Anais Fernandez Castro, a student curator and third-year in Spanish and political science, said people of all ages were invited to participate in the open house Sept. 21, and she taught basic dance movements to open house attendees Sept. 25.
“My thought process going into it was making sure people felt comfortable enough to want to join in,” Fernandez Castro said.
Fernandez Castro also said the masks’ diversity is what makes them dynamic and intriguing. Since they were sourced from different countries before being cleaned and restored by student curators, she said each mask is indicative of a specific place and culture — including Ecuador, Puerto Rico and Venezuela.
Tobin Ripley, like Fernandez Castro, said she thinks the exhibit will be captivating and relatable for guests.
“We all have masks on,” she said. “We think about how we present ourselves or hide ourselves.”
The “Dancing with Devils: Latin American Masks Traditions” exhibition is scheduled to remain in the Barnett Center Collaboratory for the entirety of the fall semester. Visit the Barnett Center’s website for more information about the in-person exhibition and its related events. A fully online version of the exhibition is also available.
