Exhibition
3. 2. to 17.2. 2015
Carnival heritage and tradition in Slovenia is almost as diverse as the country itself. Almost every village once had its own way of carnival revelry and mischief. Among the carnival customs, there are many that were once connected with the transition to a new fertile period or a new calendar cycle of the transition from winter to spring. Our ancestors always celebrated this by dressing up. They believed that in this way they would be closer to the spirits that revive nature and bring fertility. Over time, most of these customs have been consciously lost, only in some places, such as Brkini, Drežnica and Dobro polje in Dolenjska, have the old customs continuously developed and have been preserved to this day. Elsewhere in Slovenia, however, we are more or less dealing only with different interpretations of historical memory and modern times, which give carnival revelry and customs different value and purpose.
In the Savinja region, it is a collection of different ways of celebrating Carnival, which in some places is still strongly intertwined with local identity. Its occurrence is geographically represented in such a way that its influence grows proportionally with the distance from Celje. While in Celje we can observe a completely modern, well-known carnival event with a procession, in Mozirje it is strongly based on tradition and local heritage. We can also observe something similar in Žalec, which is more similar to Celje in terms of its Carnival events, and in Vransko, where, like in Mozirje, Carnival events are connected with local cultural heritage and historical memory.
The carnival procession or carnival as we call it is a common feature of all the aforementioned cities. Today, in addition to various masquerades organized by inns and bars, it is the central presentation of carnival costumes. At the same time, the walk of carnival costumes through the city means a symbolic transition from winter to spring, which calls for awakening from a lifelong sleep. Some time ago, it was customary for carnival costumes to go from house to house and wish a good harvest. The custom was more widespread in the countryside, but it was not foreign to them in the cities either. Today, only in a few places do they go from house to house to wish a "fat carnival", and even then it is mostly children who get some extra candy in this way. Today, the display of carnival costumes is therefore focused on the carnival.
The Savinja Carnival does not have typical or traditional carnival patterns that would preserve the original purpose, as, for example, the Brkini Škoromat or the Ptuj Kurenti have. Carnival scheming here is more related to carnival mischief. Such a role of scheming can be seen in Mozirje, where Pust Mozirski has been home for 120 years, and in Vransko, where in recent years the carnival events have been led by the Generali Vranarji. In the Savinja region, we can therefore observe, rather than traditional carnival patterns, almost theatrical masking that illuminates, criticizes or alludes to current events in society. Such masking is usually not limited to an individual, but rather involves larger groups with large carnival props that are decorated appropriately for the social theme illuminated by the mask. The Savinja Carnival is therefore, more than a mirror of the past, a reflection of the present. Even though it no longer drives away winter and brings fertility, it still retains its original symbolic meaning of the tendency towards change - from winter to spring, from a worse to a better life.
Sebastjan Veber, Museum of Recent History Celje
The exhibition was created in collaboration with the Museum of Contemporary History and is on display on the 2nd floor of the library.