The African journey behind the masks of the Barranquilla Carnival.

In the 1600s, when the tyrant commanded, the streets of Cartagena, to which Joe Arroyo sang, narrated, in palenques and liberated urban settlements, the history of their slavery.

Among furtive dances, mapalé and percussion, they unburdened their sorrow. Their body was the best cry of rebellion and their elastic, exotic movements, their firm resistance. So were the masks, that possibility, that which they were not. The camouflage of their black spirit repressed by white whims.

From colonial Cartagena came out those zoomorphic figures, with their owners, in the 19th century. They settled in the booming Barranquilla, a growing port, and merged with the Magdalena river dances, the extinct rites, the indigenous memories.

These photos were a collaboration with photographer Andres Cardona

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FOUR STORIES. FOUR DESIGN PROTOTYPES. THE UPPER MASKS BEAR THE SIGNATURE OF LUIS CARLOS ASIS, THE ONLY SURVIVOR OF THE BARRANQUILLA GENERATION OF ARTISANS. THE ANATOMY OF HIS PIECES IS AN INHERITANCE OF THE AESTHETICS HE LEARNED IN THE POPULAR REBOLO NEIGHBORHOOD, THE FIRST ARTISAN SETTLEMENT IN THE CITY. HIS FORMS, THE OLDEST KNOWN TO CARNIVAL, DATE BACK TO 1878, AND ACCORDING TO CURATOR ASER VEGA, THEIR GEOMETRY HAS REMAINED FAITHFUL, AS WELL AS THE DEMARCATED DARK CIRCLES AND THE NARROW RANGE OF FLAT COLORS THAT PAINT THEM. BELOW, TWO MASKS FROM THE WORKSHOP OF LUIS PERTUZ, FROM GALAPA, MUCH MORE FIGURATIVE AND FREE IN TERMS OF COLOR.

FOUR FACES OF THE CONGO REAL WORKSHOP, BY LUIS PERTUZ: ARMANDO ENRIQUE PERTUZ MENDOZA, THE COBADOR, A TERM THAT COMES FROM 'COBADO', ARTICULATION OF THE UPPER LIMBS. IT IS HE WHO FINISHES REFINING THE CURVED AND SMOOTH SHAPES OF EACH MASK. NEXT TO HIM, LUISA CANTILLO, 21, WHO WAS IN CHARGE OF THE SANDING SESSION FOUR MONTHS AGO. BELOW, GREGORIO DE MOYA, 29, THE EXPERT IN PAINT DESIGN. NEXT TO HIM, MABEL SOTERO, WHO HAS BEEN “WORKING ON IT FOR A MONTH”. SHE REFERS TO THE PACKAGING OF THE PIECES. SHE IS 22 YEARS OLD.

THE SIMPLE FACADES OF THE GALAPERA HOUSES SHELTER ENTIRE WORKSHOPS AND HUNDREDS OF HOURS OF INCESSANT HAMMERING. IN HIGH SEASON, TWO MONTHS BEFORE CARNIVAL, THE WORKFORCE INCREASES. DEMAND IS RELENTLESS IN ORDER TO FILL ORDERS. ALTHOUGH CONGO GROUPS, THE MAIN MASK BEARERS OF THE CARNIVAL, NO LONGER CARRY THE HEAVY FIGURES THEY USED TO AND THEIR ORDERS ARE SCARCE, THE DECORATIVE FUNCTION OF THE PIECES IS BOOMING.

THERE IS NO MACHINE HERE. HANDS ARE THE ESSENTIAL TOOL IN THE MANUFACTURE OF MASKS, WHICH CAN TAKE UP TO 3 FULL DAYS OF WORK ON A SINGLE PIECE, DEPENDING ON ITS SIZE. AIRBRUSH, BRUSH AND CHISEL, RAGS AND SANDPAPER: EVERYTHING IS NECESSARY. PHOTO: REOJO COLECTIVO | VICE COLOMBIA.

STEP BY STEP. THE ELABORATION OF MASKS CARVED IN WOOD IS A RITUAL OF PATIENCE AND DETAIL. YOU HAVE TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT WOOD, WITH THE RIGHT SIZE. YOU HAVE TO CHISEL UNTIL YOU GET, WITH AN IMAGINARY MOLD IN YOUR HEAD, THE EXACT FIGURE. SANDING AND POLISHING TO PERFECTION. AND YOU HAVE TO SEAL AND PAINT UNTIL YOU ACHIEVE MAXIMUM BEAUTY.