By Ivor Igrec, art historian (Heritage Go Pro)
HOW
IT ALL BEGAN
The
story begins one characteristically cloudy and gray Zagreb day,
during the final days of the last year. I have met with some of my
colleagues in a crowded bar on Tkalčićeva street, where we have,
after a long talk and couple of beers, agreed that it would be quite
convenient to soon visit the island of Lastovo. The main goal was to
adjust certain necessary business trip to the Lastovo, which
consisted of information gathering and meetings with various
islanders that could give us their support in the establishment and
implementation of certain art colony on the island. The formation of
the colony would mark a great opportunity for various talented
artists, from the diverse parts of this third rock from the sun, to
express their sentiments on the island and other topics that are in
varying degrees connected to it, or even not at all. The final goal
of the event is improvement of the artistic and cultural scene of the
island that could generate numerous creative ideas.
But
before anything else, we needed to inspire ourselves and get some
clue how to start out project, and so my new friend and colleague
Andrej has made a deal with us to go to the island just in time for
the island’s most significant event – Lastovo carnival, in
Croatia known as Lastovo Poklad. This carnival is one of the most
special and authentic carnival tradition on the whole Adriatic
region, and it was almost uninterruptedly held for half of millennia.
The first year of this manifestation is still not determined, but the
first mention goes back to the end of XVI. century.
The
origins of the carnival are connected to the arrival of the Catalan
or Saracen pirates in the vicinity of the island, shortly after their
attack on the nearby island of Korčula. According to the tradition,
the pirates have sent the Turkish messenger whose mission was to
discourage the islanders and order them to stand their weapons and
surrender or they would share the fate with their neighbors on
Korčula. But the inhabitants were not scared so easily and they
armed themselves and went to the offensive. Firstly, they have
sheltered the children and women on nearby mainland, which
immediately went barefooted to the neighboring region of Hum, praying
to the St. George for help. As the story goes, their prayers were
answered and some storm destroyed the pirate fleet. During the
destruction and chaos, islanders caught the messenger. Firstly, to
humiliate him, he was placed backwards on the back of the donkey
which they rode through whole Lastovo, and afterwards he was burned
at stake.
This
act, as well as the following anniversaries of it, sent the clear
message to the colleagues of the victimized pirates, to think twice
before attacking again, since the islanders are ready to go to the
extremes to defend their liberties and the way of life. The constant
risk of pirate attacks was one of the main reasons why Lastovo is
placed in relatively safe distance from coast where it is easier to
prepare for the attack and evacuation.
Inhabitants
lived far from the coast until the XVIII. century, when nearby
pirates, especially those from the town of Ulcinj, started thinking
that it is much more profitable not to challenge the islanders such
as those from Lastovo, and turn to fishing, since the possibilities
of ending up on the stake are much lower.
The
symbolism of the carnival could be explained by evaluating the whole
set of its traditions. The ceremony of
culjanje,
the hanging of the puppet called Poklad
that represents the Turkish messenger and its sliding down the rope,
backed by firecrackers, can be seen as a purification by fire and
air, that is, the cleaning process from every evil that struck the
islanders that year. Also, the egg gathering and strings that connect
some of the participants can be seen as the ritual of initiation or
rites of spring, since Lastovo, from its very beginnings, has always
been the community of farmers and cattle herders. The ritual of
culjanje, where the hanging of the carnival puppet is always followed
in silence, since the eventual fall of puppet from the rope or during
the transport, heralds the year of bad harvest and reaping. During
the carnival days the whole island is waken from its usual slumber of
the winter’s day. Many of the former inhabitants and their families
return from the far reaches of the world, such as North and South
America and Australia to participate in the manifestations.
OUR
FIRST HOURS ON LASTOVO
Our
trip to Lastovo was the schoolbook example of merging the
pleasantries with useful, and we ultimately had a handful of both. In
such degrees that myself, as your reporter, would preferably use this
immediate period after return to go on a bit of a break, and even
more preferably in my bed with the cup of hot cocoa, if not held by a
strong impression and desire to share the experience with the others.
In our little company it was established that I was the one that is
at least busy during the carnival days, and the one that is able to
go to Lastovo without carrying my laptop, scanner, printer and the
whole mountain of documentation that is probably larger than the
Chinese phonebook. With the arrival of our dear friend Andrej to
Split and consequent boarding on the ferry, conveniently named
Lastovo, our Odyssey thus finally started. The name Odyssey was soon
justified since it started to appear that by something unfathomable
we have angered the Neptune itself, considering the waves that
attacked us relentlessly. The ferry would be very comfortable and
pleasant, if not for a raging storm that was worthy of Cape Horn and
I must admit that yours truly could for the first time fathom what
the sea sickness really stands for. The most obvious consequence of
the swinging was my face that changed colors in a frightening pace
and variety. It changed almost every primary, as well as secondary
and tertiary colors by the quick sequence.
After
five-hours-long swinging all over the Adriatic Sea, and after brief
respite in the town of Vela Luka, the ferry finally arrived to the
port of Uble, the place that represents the doorstep in a microcosm
of Lastovo. But more about Uble will come later, the only thing that
was visible in the thin line of streetlights that were surrounded by
near-absolute darkness was one building that consisted of the Port
authority and bar as well as nearby gas station. Also, in the
vicinity we have found the bus that went directly to the town of
Lastovo and our hosts, the proprietors of the apartment that we have
rented for the opportunity.
What we will found out the next
morning, Lastovo is spread around on the hill slopes that surround
the valley below, where the Lastovo carnival square was recently
opened to public. The whole morphology of the terrain is reminiscent
of Greek theatre by its shape, with the radial layout of the ancient
residential buildings as the auditorium of Lastovo.
Nevertheless,
the darkness we could see the shapes of the most characteristic
architectural element of island – Lastovo chimneys. During the days
of old, islanders built the chimneys in a mutual competition of
making the most attractive, sophisticated and/or largest chimney, and
every subsequent one was more original and even unusual, so some of
them were put as a curse or taunt to the neighbor. The aforementioned
competition reminded me of one much more famous, the one that
resulted in the erection of multiple towers and turrets of San
Gimignano. The chimneys are supported by characteristic red brick
roof tiles, which was unusual in Dalmatia before second half of XX.
century, since the stone roof tiles were more spread around during
those times. The reason is the short-lived Italian administration
which supplied the cheap and available brick tiles to every
household.
Our
hosts have presented the island in the best possible light,
regardless of our fatigue and the last, stubborn traces of sea
sickness, and I couldn’t resist their panegyrics about the local
fruits and vegetables that seems to resist the modern tendencies of
the artificial cultivation and chemical treatment. Meanwhile, I have
convinced myself that the story rings true, as regards to the grapes
and its products, and that their statement holds water most
completely since the excellent Lastovo wine soon removed any traces
of vertiginous arrival on this island. Although, since we needed to
wake up early for our meeting with the municipal mayor we have
successfully resisted the enchantments of Lastovo wine early enough
not to look red-eyed and sunken faced.
THE
INTRODUCTION TO LASTOVO AND HOUSE CRAWLING
The
degree of restfulness aside, the morning meeting with the mayor went
rather positively and our plans regarding the layout and area of
activities got much clearer afterwards. Also, the mayor generously
ceded a bit more of his time during the afternoon to lead us around
one of the spots where the certain activities of the future colony
could be implemented. Since we had a gap of five hours, exactly from
9:00 to 14:00, apart from couple of coffees and lunch we did one
little location scouting, the small coastal hamlet Lučice, which is,
with the gulf of St. Michael, the nearest connection that the
settlement of Lastovo has with the sea, being just about 10 minutes
away by foot. All the way between those settlements, someone have
painted mouths and eyes on various animal-shaped rocks, furtherly
expressing the animalistic reminiscence of them. We briefly checked
Lučica hamlet that was very well preserved and/or restored by the
efforts of the local populace, with quite colorful red-bricked roof
tiles and olive green color of the wooden doors and window shutters.
Soon we have returned to the center of Lastovo settlement, just in
time to see the last construction phases of the carnival puppet. It
was carried out in the restaurant halls of Bačvara,
one
of the most significant gathering places of islanders, during and
outside of carnival days. The straw puppet was soon fully clothed in
ceremonial clothes and one of the firecrackers that would shortly
“torture” the puppet during his brief life. That was also the
first time I have heard the characteristic and shrill sound of lyre
that would follow all of mayor carnival events during those two days.
The other characteristic sound I firstly heard was something called
halekanje,
one
truly specific carnival shouting called Uvo
that
repeats itself three times before something important would occur.
Otherwise, these halls are the main spots where the dance nights
(called balo)
occur for the whole duration of carnival. This was also the place
where we had our lunch that day, that was dominated by local pasta
and many decanters of red and white wine. After the meal, we went to
meet with the municipal mayor near the indicated spot, the so called
Rector’s palace, especially its annexes. The aforementioned title
is not quite exact since the previous building on this spot was
really the palace of governor send by the administration of Ragusa,
and that the current building was built as a villa during the XIX.
century.
The
interior of the building was preserved in its original form, with the
wall frescoes and the preserved antique wooden furniture and other
everyday items. The main problem for the building is its dilapidation
manifested in a form of cracked plaster and humidity that will lead
to the further deterioration if something isn’t done, although the
municipality is currently doing its best to fight with the problem.
Even more disturbing was the fact, that the previous owner, in his
unrelenting goal to “modernize” the building was elegant as a
butcher cleaving trough meat, scarring and ruining much of wall
frescoes with his cable installments inside of plaster. After this
initial shock, the municipal mayor has lead us to the nearby church
of John the Baptist, where he introduced us to the significant
collection of everyday items from the island’s past, that would be
perfect for the formalized ethnographical collection in a more
adequate exhibition space.
After
this second meeting with the mayor, we were free to enjoy ourselves
in a more unformal part of our day. Firstly, we quickly went to the
square near the parish church of Saints Cosmas and Damian, since were
getting late for the meeting with Bruna, one of our friends with
which we will spend most of the remaining day. She got two costumes
with her, one for Andrej and one for me. He got a one for the
convict, and mine was some strange mix of drag queen costume,
reminiscent of Pippi Longstocking and Wilma Flintstone. Equipped
like this, we have started the long night in which we were the
participants of one really specific island tradition, the collection
of eggs around the houses. Numerous groups of carnival masked
participants go around the houses of after they are visited by the
main group which is followed by lyre. But there weren’t just eggs
there, also many delicacies and drinks, such as good wine and typical
product of Lastovo, grappa from roses. The whole night was, in short,
consisted of plenty of song, feasts and hanging out with other people
in numerous houses that we changed. What will turn out important for
the next day, we have met with one girl from Rijeka that comes to
Lastovo every year. Her name was Tea and since she found out that we
want to come to the settlement of Uble and to experience this space
both professionally and personally, since we have seriously started
to consider that the whole area would be the excellent place for the
placement and work on future sculptures and installations that were
created by art colony. As Tea had an apartment in Uble, she offered a
tour of the place and the nearby military base Maršalka
and
we happily accepted.
We
finished our evening on the part of the town called Pjevor, and this
location had a key importance during the whole day, considering that
this is the location with the town’s only bars, bank and shops, so
we soon have become the regulars of coffee bar
Mamilo,
so much that the waitress soon knew what we would drink before the
order. Anyway, we have visited again one of those two bars, which
served as a night club during that evening. But we quickly retreated
outside after getting drinks, thrown out by noise, stuffy air and
unsuitable
music. It quickly turned out that outside we had another problem,
since the whole street was like a minefield of raw broken eggs, since
someone, almost certainly completely drunk, thought that it is a
better idea to shoot them around at one another, instead of cooking
and eating them.
UBLE,
ROPE AND FIRE
Waking
up, and drinking a quick coffee, we realized that if we want to go to
Uble, we need to hitchhike to get there. We were very fortunate to
find the driver quite quickly, although every car stopped to see
where we are going, nobody went to Uble. The settlement of Uble
almost instantly left a strong impression on me, especially the marks
of time that are ever present in this location. Firstly, the remnants
of the Roman settlement with the basilica of St. Peter and Roman
country villa, as well as three sarcophagi from the Early Christian
period that are seriously endangered by the erosion of the nearby
wall and terrain that will cause yet another ruinous location in Uble
if something is not done. As I have mentioned ruination, the time was
not very gracious to the settlement, not at all. After the failed
urbanistic project during the Italian administration of the island,
Uble was exposed to gradual dilapidation. The failure of the project
was caused by the unwillingness of people from the town of Lastovo to
re-settle in Uble and find work in the newly opened sardine factory
and subsequent exodus of Italians that moved to the settlement
instead of them. The opening of the hotel Sirena and establishment of
the military bases in the vicinity have temporary stopped this
tendency, but the military placement would cause new problems for
Lastovo. In a long run it has caused various other problems for
islanders, not just Uble. The strategic location of Lastovo, as was
also the case in the nearby island of Vis, also caused the near
complete isolation of the island. Although the arrival of many
soldiers and officers from various republics of Yugoslavia has
brought diversity to the local life, as our hosts have mentioned, a
number of girls from Lastovo that have married to the members of
Yugoslav army are nowadays living in a far reaches of the former
country. The dissolution of Yugoslavia and everything that it
represented in the destructive war in the 90ies, meant another blow
to the settlement of Uble, the second one after the previous collapse
of Italian dreams of the new Roman Empire in Mediterranean. Although
Uble and its surroundings still hold a certain charm, nowadays they
are dominated by the atmosphere of the post-apocalyptic settlement in
which the life is getting back on its feet after the atomic
bombardment or any such cataclysm.
By
passing through the military base Maršalka,
which served before as a veritable town for soldiers, my impression
of a certain time warp got much more pronounced, especially after
seeing the mottos and buzzwords from a dead country, which were full
of optimism and unfulfilled desires for the eternal existence of
Yugoslavia, which would resist all external and internal challenges.
One of the goals of the visit was getting some souvenirs from this
lost time, but it turned to be expectantly unrealistic, since the
hordes of tourists and other visitors have wiped it clean completely,
and we couldn’t find even some papers that Tea saw couple of days
before. Coming back to Uble, we could experience the interior design
of the Italian fascist architecture by entering the house of Tea,
where she graciously offered us coffee and tea. Before our collective
return to town of Lastovo, we have chatted a bit and during the
conversation we have found out from Tea that Lastovo is completely
devoid of venomous snakes, what is unusual occurrence in the
Dalmatian coast. Afterwards I have read that, according to legend,
during the escape attempt of the Illyrian queen Teuta on the island
of Lastovo, she has protected the deity of snakes from Romans, and as
a show of gratitude that deity and the snakes in gratitude have
abandoned the whole island, saving the population from the risks of
getting poisoned.
Returning
to Lastovo, we came just in time to see the beginning of the most
important events of the whole carnival. The carnival participants,
called pokladari,
are
gathering on that day with their characteristic red and black
costumes as well as the so-called pretty
masks
and the representative of secular and religious authority are giving
them their responsibilities for a day. Hence, it marked the beginning
of the parade, followed by the sword dance, which automatically has
reminded me of another, more famous sword dance, Moreška,
from the nearby island of Korčula. Until the dawn of the past
century, the participants in a dance used the real swords, but
probably after a whole lot of lost fingers and other injuries they
chose to replace them with the wooden ones. During the whole parade
and dance event, the men and women are separated in two groups that
by tradition aren’t allowed to meet each other before the final
event on the square where the puppet of Poklad
would
be burned. During the whole day, especially as the night came, I
asked myself how the pretty
masks
participants, mostly made of women, are resisting the cold, since it
was the beginning of February and they were quite bare-skinned. But
the gradually more energetic and fierce dances as well as the
availability of strong wine has certainly eliminated the influences
of coldness. I have noticed also that many of the pretty
masks are
paired in their costumes and those pairs always go together tied by
the strings.
Notwithstanding
the celebratory atmosphere that took us over, our stomachs started to
protest against us and we have decided to search for some convenient
place where we can have some lunch, or just a small snack. Soon we
have started to perceive the scopes of our fatal misjudgment that
some of the taverns or shops should be opened for visitors and
tourists that came to partake in these events and gleefully
enjoy
the fiery end of the poor Poklad
puppet.
Soon we wished that we are also made from straw such as he, so we
also don’t have a sense of hunger that started to grow more and
more by every moment we have spent without food.
After
the grim realization that every tavern is closed or reserved for
private dinners and/or parties, we went for grocery store on Pjevor,
the only shop we were almost sure that should be open, but arriving
there we frantically realized that it was also closed. We soon
started to feel like a veritable Robinsons, shipwrecked and hungry on
the island and for couple of hours we have survived on couple of
apples, cranberries and hazelnuts that we have saved for rainy days.
After
our failed attempt we have resignedly returned to the ceremony to
keep our minds occupied with the day’s events. The participants
were slowly reaching the Square
of Lastovo Carnival
playing the lyre and singing the traditional islander songs. Also,
they would periodically stop by certain courtyards where they would
partake in sword dance. Shortly after their arrival on the Square
of Lastovo Carnval, they
have initiated the culjanje
ceremony, the pushing of the Poklad
puppet from the cliff after which he slid over the rope, backed by
firecrackers that exploded all around him. The ceremony repeated
itself three times and after the dances that were conducted by the
two groups of carnival participants, both of them climbed back to the
municipal square. There, after more of those circular dances, they
have burned the puppet on the stake, in hope it will bring forth a
glorious year for the islanders they even backed it up with the
impressive firework display. The whole space quickly emptied out
since we weren’t the only ones that were hungry. In the end we have
found some food in a nearby Fumari
tavern, as the proprietors took pity on us so much that they
temporary gave away some reserved tables.
FAREWELLS
AND RETURN
The
evening was finished by our now ceremonial departure to the Mamilo
bar,
where we said our farewells to Lastovo and thus we were missing out
on the final carnival dance, balo.
It
could be said that our infinite wisdom was credited for our earlier
nap that evening, since we needed to wake up in 3 o’clock in the
morning to get to the bus for a ferry, but it would be untrue. The
taxing days and multitude of impressions have left their mark on us,
so we needed a bit of rest. Our hopes that we will at least get some
rest on the ferry soon dissipated, since the sea was hit by the
mother of storms that made the previous one look like hummingbird’s
flutter. This soon caused the flying chairs all over the hall,
sometimes with the people still on it. Looking across the hall on the
windows, I have uneasily realized that it is difficult to
continuously see the nearby island of Hvar since the boat was swaying
so much that we just saw the foaming sea or skies. We have returned
to Split felling a bit nauseous and dizzy but still in one piece.
After the last commitments during the morning and saying farewells to
Andrej who still had a majority of trip in front of him. I came back
home full of impressions, and now, even though this adventure lasted
just over 48 hours, after all we have heard, saw, tasted, went
thorough and experienced it seemed that some sort of time-and-space
bubble has manifested itself, inside of which the different laws of
physics were implemented and the time went slower. Now, as these days
are behind me, I already know that these days will enter in the
exclusive club of those days that will forever stay fresh and clear
as they were when they were experienced, and will always be the time
markers in the voyage we call life.
