„BREADMAN“ by
@dancingambiance
Through breaking bread, The breadman is a figure brought to life both as a fool, patron and herald of Maastricht’s Carnival spirit. Maastricht is considered one of the Carnival’s strongholds down in the deep catholic south of the Netherlands. Here, The breadman emerges to form a grotesque body, reanimating the transformative space carnival can be, Embracing, inversion, masquerade and feast.
The costume and character draws on the site-specific carnivalist dress of the region. Clerical garments were inverted or worn backwards, mocking ecclesiastical authority. From the 19th century onward, discarded bedding and attire served as readymades; collage was a necessity, a way to mask, and expose the ‘inner’ mask.
Today, as masquerade wanes in Maastricht, and its subversive effects shrink, the Breadman arrives, and is animated by another ancient cornerstone of civilization, bread. Bread stands at the threshold between feast and fasting, aligning with carnaval through collective indulgence and delight. Here, panem et circenses is perverted: bread becomes not a pacifier, but awakes the appetite for carnival.
Costume:
@dancingambiance
Model:
@dancingambiance 
