Featured Artwork >> Masks worn in the Danza de los Diablitos 2005 Annual Brunka tribal ceremony in the villages of Boruca and Rey Curré, South Pacific zone of Costa Rica. >> View the "Diablito" mask catalog, where you can pick the unique artwork of the Brunka tribe. “(Es una) fiesta simbólica de origen poscolonial, significa la lucha incansable entre los españoles y los nativos. Todo el proceso de enfrentamiento que tuvieron nuestros tatarabuelos de ese entonces, además de ser en defensa de los valores culturales étnicos, defendía también el tradicional sistema de vida...” “This symbolic celebration is of a post-colonial origin, it represents the tireless struggle between the Spanish and the natives. It encompasses the whole process of the historic confrontation of our great-grandfathers as well as the defense our ethnic cultural values. This struggle was also in defense of the traditional social system of the aboriginal peoples – their culture, their forms of communal organization etc. It was recognized very early that the new ideology and methodology inspired by the colonist was to the detriment of our way of life, our environment and our ancestral knowledge and resources. Today we, their descendants, are suffering the consequences: the elimination of the forests, the drying up of our rivers, the rapid extinction of our native fauna, the brazen extraction of our archeological heritage, the contamination of land and waters.” (Rodolfo Rojas, Brunka leader of Rey Curré, 1995) “ Mi familia vive de esto” “My family makes a living from this (mask making and the creation of traditional arts)” Rafael González, Brunka leader, master mask carver and Diablo Mayor (Cagrú Rójc, ‘Devils Society' leader), Rey Curré village. It is an honor and a privilege for Galería Namu to be able to offer this collection of worn masks used in the Danza de los Diablitos (2004-2005). The collection is categorized first by village, then by type: non-painted, or painted/natural stain. Some of these masks offered by Namu have been used in several ‘Danzas'. Also, several masks are accompanied with a photo of the piece being worn by its maker, in context, during the ceremony. The Brunka tribe, one of 8 indigenous tribes of Costa Rica, count among their members about 2,000 full-bloods, and today, about 400 more of mixed ancestry. The Danza de los Diablitos ceremony takes place in each of the two villages in their Indigenous Reservation: Boruca and Rey Curré. This annual tradition, which has been celebrated at least since early colonial times, starts at midnight on the 30 th of Dec. and ends the 2 nd of Jan. in Boruca village, and in the village of Rey Curré , during the first week of Feb. This event, which in Spanish is called a danza (a dance), is actually more like choreographed battles between the two opposing sides, the toro (bull), representing the Spanish and all his cultural facets, and a multitude of diablitos (little devils), representing the native population. Although the devil is not of the Brunka tribe's indigenous cosmology, it was in fact, according to the perspective of the newly arrived Christian Spaniard, what the Native American was considered : heathen and Godless. The native was the “bad guy” and as the Brunka are proud of their ancestor's resistance against the invader and his oppressive methods, this underdog appeal carries through to their mask designs, whereby ugly and ferocious is desirable and good. These masks are one of a kind and are ethnographically important as an object not meant for the tourist trade, but to comply with tradition and to play the important role of the diablo in this ceremony. The devils are a metaphor for the native as well as an agent for social/tribal renovation because in the Danza , the diablos triumph over the bull (the Spanish) and survive to struggle again the next year against the foreign forces that intend to destroy the native and his world.			View the Catalog >> View the "Diablito" mask catalog, where you can pick the unique artwork of the Brunka tribe. Tribe Brunka (Boruca) This tribe from the South Pacific Coast of the country are a people with a very rich artistic heritage both historically and in the present day... more   Artist location: South Pacific Costa Rica View the Costa Rica art and culture map