About the presentation: Diablada festivals are among the most widely recognized celebrations in Latin America. These celebrations feature several masked characters, most noticeably the diablos (devils). An extraordinary diversity of horned paper masks appear during Carnival, Independence Day, Saints Days, and various regional festivals. In this presentation, I provide some historical background on the origins and proliferation of diablada traditions and offer some contemporary interpretations of the masks and festival dances. I also share OSU’s rich experiences with the Dancing with Devils: Latin American Masks Traditions exhibition, including how the exhibition intersected with public outreach, student research, work with Andean artists, and both graduate and undergraduate curriculum on our campus.
About the presenter: Michelle Wibbelsman is Associate Professor of Latin American Indigenous Cultures, Ethnographic and Ethnomusicological Studies in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at The Ohio State University. Originally from Ecuador, Dr. Wibbelsman specializes in the expressive culture of indigenous peoples of the Andean highlands. Her work since 1995 has focused on symbolic and semiotic analytical approaches to indigenous performance, ritual practices and politics. She is author of Ritual Encounters: Otavalan Modern and Mythic Community (University of Illinois Press 2009) as well as scholarly articles on topics of Indigenous religion and ritual; musical expression; public festivals; history, myth and memory; performance and politics; Indigenous epistemologies; alternative literacies and historiographies; decolonial methodologies; gender dynamics in the Andes; and Indigenous transnational migration. She is Faculty Curator of the Andean and Amazonian Indigenous Art and Cultural Artifacts Collection at Ohio State and Director of the OSU Andean Music Ensemble.
Please note: This lecture will be followed by a public reception with light appetizers and beverages.
Thank you to our sponsors: The Ohio State University’s Center for Latin American Studies, the UW Hillel Foundation, the Division of the Arts at UW-Madison, and the Department of Anthropology, UW-Madison.
