Mario Belloni
Venetian artisan mask maker
Italy
The Carnival of Venice. Four words that immediately trigger a flood of visualisations in the reader's mind: an old romantic floating Italian city between fantasy, mystery and imagination. Images of colourful and lavishly elegant dressed women and men strolling through the foggy alleys, over the many small bridges, along the Canale Grande or meeting at St Mark’s Square. „The annual festival is famous throughout the world for its elaborate costumes and masks“, states Wikipedia. „The Carnival traces its origins to the Middle Ages, existing for several centuries until it was abolished in 1797. The tradition was revived in 1979.“ A mask making workshop in Venice calls himself the oldest and finest in the ‚City Of Masks‘ as they „craft authentic handmade masks in the same way Venetian artisans did hundreds of years ago“ (thegrandwinetour.com) - either to wear or just for decorative purposes. The store is one that provided some of the spectacular face coverings worn in ‚Eyes Wide Shut‘ (1999), the „erotic mystery psychological drama“ (Wikipedia) by famous movie director Stanley Kubrick, and has a framed signature of main actor Tom Cruise in its shop’s window front!
Mario Belloni
Venetian artisan mask maker
Italy
Just a few steps from the nearby canal Ca'macana is located at Dorsoduro 3215 in Venezia. On display in the windows of the shop are a variety of these typical Venetian masks. Obviously the three most famous ones come into focus first: „the bauta mask (or bautta) is the most quintessential and recognizable Venetian carnival mask. For many centuries it represented the Venetian Republic's aristocracy. This is why today we find it depicted in a variety of paintings and antique prints. The bauta is very practical to wear, and can be worn comfortably for many hours. Its protruding shape allows one to even eat and drink without taking off the mask. The more mysterious aspect of the Venetian bauta has been highlighted in films like ‚Amadeus‘ and has taken hold in the popular imagination as the Casanova mask” (camacana.com). Then there is „the Moretta or Muta. It is a small, oval shaped mask covered in black velvet, held in place by a button in the mouth“ (isabettaorsini.wordpress.com). And ‚Gnaga‘, covering half of the face“. Not forgetting ‚The Plague Doctor‘ with its long curved beak used by doctors in the old days in the course of their medical duties to avoid contagion.
Entering the shop the visitor is overwhelmed by the amount of masks.like the widely popular Columbina eye masks, comedy tragedy masks, Joker masks and so on. Owner of the store is Mario Belloni. “I started making masks because I wanted to live in Venice,” says Belloni, who was born in Genoa, on craftsmanship.net. „He was a student (of architecture) and amateur artist in 1984“, knows veniceoriginal.it, “when he decided, almost just for fun, to rediscover traditional Venetian masks and experiment with their techniques. Between the '70s and '80s, following a certain cultural ferment, the city administration decided to relaunch the Venetian carnival by organizing events. At that time, there were no Venetian carnival masks in stores, but only glass objects and some plastic souvenirs. So, without almost realizing it, along with some friends he laid the foundations for the future mask workshop in Venice. He began by selling handmade masks arranged on the floor on a piece of cloth in the streets of Venice late at night, when the police were no longer passing by; he wanted to see if anyone was willing to buy them, and it was a success.“
In 1986 Ca’Macana‘was opened. As a family-run atelier the self-taught creative plus his team began to create and sell entirely handmade masks by using traditional ancient techniques. „That involves sculpting the clay model and then creating a plaster mold that will later be filled with multiple layers of a particular type of blotting paper (‚cartalana‘) soaked in water and glue. Once dry, the mask will be painted with a base of white acrylic paint and decorated as desired“ (veniceoriginal.it). The latter can be done by clients too as the store offers various mask-making workshops.
Over the years Ca’Macana‘s unique mask making laboratory has expanded to other forms of art and craftsmanship like sculpture and providing sets for films, and furnishings for fashion stores. Inhouse the second Belloni generation is at work already. Mario’s children, Davide and Eloisa, secure the survial of their family’s tradition. „Rediscovering and revitalising an ancient art by turning a game into a real job has been a fantastic adventure", the master of masks is quoted on veniceoriginal.it. „An adventure that still continues today with renewed passion.“
Mario Belloni, who has authored the English/Italian paperback „Maschere a Venezia -Venetian mask: history and technique“ (Una Tantum Editore, 72 pages), lives in Venice.
Interview January 2025
The man behind the masks keeps alive a hundreds of years old craftsmanship
INTUITION/IMAGINATION
?: How does intuition present itself to you – in form of a suspicious impression, a spontaneous visualisation or whatever - maybe in dreams?
In the form of a spontaneous visualization. Sometimes I have a mental image of the whole work; other times, I see only details, and I build the entire work around them.
?: Will any ideas be written down immediately and archived?
Both cases.
?: How do you come up with good or extraordinary ideas?
There are no good or extraordinary ideas. The value does not lie in the idea or the work but in the observer. So, it's all relative. Most of the time ideas come from life experiences, especially from the meditation I have practiced for many years.
?: Do you feel that new creative ideas come as a whole or do you get like a little seed of inspiration that evolves into something else and has to be realized by endless trials and errors in form of constant developments until the final result?
Both cases.
?: What if there is a deadline, but no intuition? Does the first fuel the latter maybe?
For my work as a mask maker, deadlines give me an extra push. For my artistic works, independent of my job, I don’t live off them and create them only for myself, so I’ve never had the problem of someone imposing time limits.
INSPIRATION
?: What inspires you and how do you stimulate this special form of imaginativeness?
I don't stimulate inspiration; it usually comes on its own. The work that follows is often interesting if, at the moment of inspiration, I myself couldn’t say why I should do it, but I feel it’s right to create it.
?: How do you filter between ideas that are worthwhile pursuing and bad ones that you just let go of?
The ideas worth working on, in my opinion, are those that generate works — poetry, sculpture, or painting — that don’t concern just me but are possibly interesting for everyone, addressing issues that affect all human beings. Those that speak only about me, I let go.
?: Does an idea need to appeal to you primarily or is its commercial potential an essential factor?
The commercial aspect only concerns my work as a mask maker, where inspiration and creativity play a significant role but are conditioned by market demands — for example, the audience's tastes or technical difficulties that might drive up the product's price.
For works outside my job, I’ve already answered in the response above.
?: Do you revisit old ideas or check what colleagues or competitors are up to at times?
Sometimes, I revisit old ideas, but I have never checked what my colleagues are doing.
CREATIVITY
?: What time or environment best suits your creative work process — for example, a time and place of tranquility or of pressure? Which path do you take from theory or idea to creation?
The best environment for the creative process is one where I’m not interrupted. Noise, people, or other distractions aren’t a problem, as long as no one interrupts me. When creating something new, the mind needs to stay focused and not be distracted.
The path from theory to creation depends on the object being created. Often, I can’t immediately bring an idea to life, so I need to study, experiment, and maybe solve technical challenges I’ve never faced before. Unfortunately, I’ve never attended an art school; I’m self-taught, and this hinders me significantly.
?: What’s better in the realization process — for example, speed and forcing creativity by grasping the magic of the moment or a slow, ripening process for implementation and elaboration?
For me, working quickly and forcing creativity is better than a long or overly drawn-out process because I sometimes abandon a project halfway through if I grow tired of it. In reality, the most beautiful part of creation is conceiving a work. Creating it is sometimes just labor.
However, too much haste can also be negative, as I sometimes dedicate myself to things that, in hindsight, I realize aren’t so interesting. Perhaps it would have been better not to waste energy on those projects.
?: How important are self-doubt and criticism by others during such a process?
Self-criticism is fundamental; others' criticism has no importance. Even when the work is finished, it will be interpreted differently by everyone, and the value each person attributes to it will be relative.
?: Is it better to be creative on your own, to trust only your own instincts, or to work in a team?
You can work in a team, and it can even be fun, but only for projects that aren’t personal. If you want to express something deeply personal, you need to be alone and free of interference.
?: In case of a creative block or, worse, a real failure, how do you get out of such a hole?
I simply wait for ideas to return. It’s not a problem. In reality, the only art is the art of living — knowing how to create harmony around and within oneself. Artistic works actually matter very little.
Additionally, I am absolutely convinced that the most beautiful painting or sculpture is the one you no longer need to create because you are at peace and tranquil inside; you don’t need it anymore.
?: Should a creative person always stay true to him- or herself, including taking risks and going against the flow, or must the person, for reasons of commercial survival, make concessions to the demands of the market, the wishes of clients and the audience’s expectations?
This depends greatly on the creative person's economic situation. If they need to support a family through their works and their ideas aren’t successful, they’d better adapt to the market. If their situation allows them to take risks, they should do so.
?: How are innovation and improvement possible if you’ve established a distinctive style? Is it good to be ahead of your time, even if you hazard not being understood?
Style is one thing; content is another. If the content changes, there’s renewal and evolution. If it doesn’t, and the style remains the same, we are in stasis. This happens to many successful contemporary artists who endlessly repeat themselves and become artisans of their own work.
?: When does the time come to end the creative process, to be content and set the final result free? Or is it always a work-in-progress, with an endless possibility of improvement?
The time comes when one feels the work is complete. In reality, as soon as it’s finished, you immediately realize there are many things you could improve, but you also know it’s not worth it because the work already expresses what you wanted to communicate well enough.
The real question is about the creative process itself. Since it’s a process, it should tend to evolve and improve throughout an artist's life.
?: How does artificial intelligence change human creativity? And do you? Would will you use it at all?
I can’t answer this question. So far, I’ve had no experience with artificial intelligence, apart from translating texts. However, I think that if it simplifies technical problems, it would be a great help.
SUCCESS
“Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.” Do you agree with Winston Churchill‘s quote?
This ability is not synonymous with success, but it’s certainly an indispensable prerequisite for achieving it.
?: Should or can you resist the temptation to recycle a ‘formula’ you're successful with?
As an ex-girlfriend once told me when I was 16: "You don’t reheat cold soup."
?: Is it desirable to create an ultimate or timeless work? Doesn’t “top of the ladder” bring up the question, “What’s next?” — that is, isn’t such a personal peak “the end”?
Nothing is definitive. Reality is absolutely impermanent. Judgments change. Criteria change. Sensitivity changes. If we think about Europe 50 years ago, we realize that many values we held have changed. What seems definitive today might be judged very differently in ten years.
MY FAVOURITE WORK:
I made a sculpture where you perceive a human figure, a bust in the position of a mother holding a small child in her arms or on her side. What appears to be her arm should hold the child, but instead, there’s emptiness.
This work stems from my meditations on impermanence. It has a rounded, gentle form but represents a concept that can easily unsettle us, one we must eventually approach. I’m 71 years old...
This work embodies all the characteristics of my way of creating art.
