SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Dec. 18 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Autonomous Organization of Museums and Centers (OAMC) of Tenerife has opened the doors of the exhibition ‘Piezas Dispersas. Figures from the Portal of the Casa de Nava’ in the Casa Lercaro of the Museum of History and Anthropology.
As reported by the Cabildo, it is an exhibition that exhibits part of the figures of the Birth of the Casa de Nava, dating from the 19th century, and which stands out for having been created in the domestic sphere.
The Minister of Museums, Concepción Rivero, explained that from her area they work to “create programs and exhibitions that enrich the cultural activity of the centers, but that also disseminate and make visible samples of historical value such as this one.”
Along these lines, he recalled that “since the Museum of History and Anthropology was inaugurated in 1993, it incorporated the tradition of representing a Christmas Nativity scene that has been very well received over time.”
As for the sample, these are pieces that range between 44 cm and 15 cm that also have a great ethnographic component since they do not come from a workshop, but have been created in the domestic sphere.
The faces and hands of these handmade figures are carved by hand, except for some that have faces reused from different materials. Their bodies are modeled in barely worked wood in the form of simple strips and bases.
The textiles to recreate the clothing, the glued fabrics, the cardboard or wooden bases and the clay to model the characters and belongings, are the materials used to elaborate the aesthetics of the different figures.
On the other hand, they are dressed in traditional Canarian clothing, since all the figures, except the Virgin, Saint Joseph and a Wise Man with his page who wear historicist clothing, have clothing similar to that of the Canarian peasants of the 19th century.
The men wear a hat, shirt, vest, girdle, breeches, underpants, leggings and one of them, a blanket and saddlebags. While the women dressed in a vegetable fiber hat, scarf or mantilla, shirt, jerkin, skirt and apron.
At the same time, a small number of animals, palm trees, and little houses are on display, possibly accompanying these figures in the Nativity scene. The owners remember that Herod’s castle, now lost, was also part of the representation.
