Kukeri

Kukeri (pronounced ‘koo-keh-ri) is a traditional Bulgarian ritual performed in the winter. (It is also known in other south-eastern European countries like Serbia and Romania). Men dressed in costumes walk the streets of a village, visiting the houses, and dance in the village square to chase away evil spirits and bring good harvest and health throughout the year. The costumes play one of the main roles in the ritual. They are made of animal skins – usually goat or sheep, as these are the most commonly raised animals in the area; they have a face mask that usually includes horns, and big bells are attached to the belt of the costume. The sound of the bells as well as the ferocious look of the costume are key in fulfilling its purpose. The scarier and louder the costume, the more successful it is against scaring away the evil spirits. The dances and theater role-playing are to re-enact giving birth and thus secure a bountiful harvest. For more information, I find Wikipedia’s article informative.

What I consider very clearly demonstrated in this ritual is how real and necessary the existence of this activity is. The participants and the observers are entertained, amused, and exhilarated by the event, but that is not the aim of the festivities, just a by-product of the its main purpose – the chasing away of what they called evil spirits. The role of “the artist” here (each man made his own costume) is to create a scarier costume and a more exact dance pattern of the reality they believed in, in order to bring to pass their desired result – no evil, health, and good harvest. This role not only provides the artist with a specific topic of work and definite requirements, but also gives a measurement of his success of failure.

I see this as very different, if not opposing, to the predominant contemporary views of art, which are mainly concerned with creating a feeling and a sensation in the viewers and listeners. These views also place the artist in a difficult position, where he is responsible not only for the execution of the work, but also for finding his own topic all the while the criteria of what is successful have moved into the realm of personal taste without a tangible way of measurement. And that, I think, is a tall order of any one individual!