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NICE CARNIVAL / CARNIVAL OF NICE Nice France : the city of French Carnival www.nicecarnaval.com Carnavaliers Project managers of the most famous festival of the French Riviera, the carnavaliers constitute a corporation of about 150 members, very jealous of their privileges.
The "former ("ancient") will explain to you that to be a carnavalier, does not mean to practise a profession as that of artisan, for example, but to participate in a competition organized since 1873, by the Events committee of the City of Nice, during the Carnival, and at the conclusion of which, one distributes prizes in cash, as it is the case in numerous competitions.
It is from 1922, that carnavaliers are grouped together in associations, to limit the number of places attributed during the prize-giving by the Events committee, and it is necessary to be a member of one of the four associations (the Association of the grotesque builders, The Aces, the Artisans, the Union), to be subsidized in the competition.
Therefore, the Carnival of Nice which is one of the most important carnivals of the world as regards to the preparation of " big heads " and the subjects or floats in pasteboard, based largely on the participation of carnavaliers.
These men and these few women, will have dedicated thousands of working hours so that their works take place on the grotesque parade. But it is always with surprise that the public who comes to visit carnavaliers, in the workshops of Richelmi street, Riquier, learns that most of them are not professionals. They exercise varied enough professions (employees, storekeepers, artisans or civil servants) and dedicate their leisure activities to the Carnival.
The subsidy assigned by the Events committee at the conclusion of the competition, allows to cover expenses engaged for the realization of their work.
In front of the future, they do not hide a certain homesickness. Their organization, particular and original, reminds that of the " compagnonnage ".
Until these last years, the system relationship coaptation was original for the training.
Women are excluded from this type of succession although they participate actively in the various stages of realization. This discrimination is not any more for the style of the day and would not know how to last.
Having been allowed in one of the four societies, one follows a precise programme: one begins with a big head in "isolated", then one becomes " groupiste " (8 big heads) and then chariste by the relationship or the age.
For some years, this system, scrupulously respected by carnavaliers, is pushed aside by the chances and the requirements of modern life. Young people succeed fewer and fewer their parents because they have difficulty in sacrificing their hours of leisure; the ancient pass it to professionals who keep nevertheless the traditions of this popular art.
An art which needs to revitalize. But as it is not said that Carnival, such Ph œ nix dies to be reborn of its ashes, even more brilliant. Let us hope for it for carnavaliers. The "profession" of carnavalier The atmosphere. Several months before the carnival, a strange fever seizes carnavaliers. In Nice, one calls it roguishly the carnavalina, but the symptoms are identical in all the cities of Carnival. It is fascinating to notice the resemblance of the places where this fever demonstrates itself. It acts mostly in closed environment, and provokes a real surrealist atmosphere in the different workshops. The choice of the subject. First stage, and not the slightest, in the conception of this grotesque work. At the beginning of spring, the carnavalina declares itself; it is often the most exalting period: that of the conception, the search for the idea, for the creative spark.
The carnavalier of Nice acquaints with the subject imposed by the Events committee for the next year, " the holiday " in 1987, " the centenary of Côte d'Azur " in 1988, " love " in 1989, " the laughter " in 1990, " Europe " in 1993, subjects which leave him a relative freedom. He makes drawings and paintings for his subject - float or big heads - with a model maker, and will execute then the works necessary for the realization of his float or his group, surrounded with a small and specialized work force. The realization. The carnavalier is sovereign in the realm of the pasteboard and several phases mark out the realization of the subjects of Her Majesty Carnival. It is first of all necessary to pass in the workshop of the sculptor, whom such a magician uses, molds, mixes the clay and the plaster. What moments of intense emotion it was given to live to us by seeing appearing, under expert hands and full of Jean Ferrero's attention, Joël Belly or Gabriel Granata, the features of a face modelled in the clay, discovering the roguish smile of Her Majesty Carnival, his joyful wrinkles, wrinkled around eyes, revealed by a last plan of firmer chisel.
Of the modelling, one passes to the realization of a mould in plaster, that the carnavalier covers several layers of paper cut in small fragments, and glued with a mixion of flour and warm water. And so one will obtain the definitive edition, in pasteboard. An ingenious mechanization The public underestimates the ingenuity of the carnavaliers which make move their subjects by means of often very simple means. Ropes and threads, the carnavalier, become an electrician or a welder, is spent in electric engines, of sometimes unexpected origin: windscreen wiper, sewing machine, washer, or more elaborated systems, such hydraulic jacks. Carnavaliers of Nice became the uncontested bosses of the mechanization, with notably J.P. and P. Povigna. The art of the carnavalier The carnival, festival of the grotesque, is also the festival of a popular art which expresses itself with variety and originality. The anthropomorphism reigns in the carnival. Very often, one assembles heads of animals and vegetables, or objects on human forms and vice versa. Long noses are stuck on faces and deformed bodies - masses of pasteboard of more than two metres in height funny or frightening the children.
There is a specificity in the art to paint the pasteboard which allows us to differentiate a carnival of the other one. Viareggio's carnavaliers, been supposed to be masters in the art of the sculpture, have a pictorial expression much less popular than that of their homologues of Nice.
G.A. Mossa exercised a talented influence on the painters - carnavaliers. And we can assert without fear that there is a real pictorial art of the carnavalier of Nice. An art was totally underestimated, which uses a palette of sensational colours, with dominants red, green, yellow, and infinite nuances. On the parade, the cave head in shape of tomato to the Provençal will take abruptly a life, a new brightness thanks to this painting in gradation, so particular in Nice, the one that looks for by a last bow lou lume (the light), the final brightness which will give a touch joyful with the subjects of Her Majesty, under artists' expert hands as Efeso, Coppa, Beglia, Alexandre Sidro, today disappeared, which succeeded L. Schiaffino, J. Ferrero, J. I) amiano, A. Mignone, G. Granata, J. Belly, P. and JP Povigna.
Carnavaliers propose us their vision of the another world: for the Brazilian Joazinho Trinta or the carnavalesca Maria Augusta, it is a question of making live a " opera of street ", in search of the promised Land, populated with a strange world of mysterious entities. The carnavalier of Nice Alexandre Sidro liked comparing with a Pierrot: " To look for fortune, I do not know if I shall find it, finds it in the moon, me, I see it in the dream ". The universe populated with dreams, with phantasmagoria allows the carnavalier of Nice to give multiple facets to the grotesque imagination. The battles of flowers The battles of flowers are among the most graceful and the most famous feasts of Nice and French Riviera.
The first battle of flowers which the Inhabitants of Nice attended, took place during the winter, 1830, on the occasion of the stay in Nice of king Charles - Félix, come to spend the winter in Nice, " to enjoy the sweet sound climate ". he preceded so in the tradition, the sovereigns and the Russian, English, German princes who will stay in Nice.
The custom to throw flowers during the parades of carnival remained during the century.
Alphonse Karr, the poet gardener wished deeply that there are real parades of flowery floats, during the grotesque festival. His widh was fulfilled some decades later.
It is so, that in 1874, the carnavalier Jean Cuggia, author of the float of " the Peace ", - exhausted, with his friends, for a single day of parade, 15 000 bunches of flowers!
In 1876, Andriot Saëtone, created, at instigation of Alphonse Karr and of the Count de Cessole, the first battle of flowers, on the Promenade des Anglais. No doubt, the incidents which spangled the Carnival of 1875, influenced the separation of the grotesque festival in two different parts:
- The grotesque parades with the battles of confettis, took place in Saleya Court, place of the Prefecture and St-Francois de Paule street.
- The elegant parades of cars decorated with flowers with battles of flowers took place on the Promenade des Anglais.
On one side, the popular, unwound festival, and of the other one, the apollinian festival, aesthetic, where marched " the elite " of the society.
The first battle of flowers was a shy attempt, because of the innovation of the chosen place:
- The course respected at first the traditional plan of the Carnival, the place of the Prefecture (with guests' stand) and the Saleya Court, then evolved on the Promenade des Anglais, without any stand and looked like more a walk - exhibition, that in a real " battle of flowers ".
The public became used little by little, to exchange or "to fight" with flowers. All the celebrities of time, participated in the battles of flowers. The other cities of Côte d'Azur followed the example of Nice, and Cannes inaugurated the first battle of flowers in 1898. The example of Nice, also inspired Isabelle, girl of Pedro 11 of Brazil, which organized in Rio the first parade of floats decorated with flowers to celebrate the abolition of the slavery. Nice is also at the origin of the Pasadena's famous flowery parade Tournament of Roses) (USA) which was created in 1890 by Francis Rowland, after he attended the battle of flowers of Nice. It allows better to understand the prestige of this festival of Nice in the Beautiful Time and its international fame. Some mix moreover Carnival and battle of flowers, grotesque parade and flowery parade. A flowery parade A parade of battle of flowers includes a parade of completely decorated with flowers floats, and which illustrate allegorical subjects. On every float, appear two to three girls, young people and magnificent models, luxuriously made up and dressed in sparkling suits of feathers, glitter and paste under the expert hand of a dressmaker of big talent, Francis Carol. Nowadays, the battles of flowers look like more a parade where alternate flowery floats and different music groups, brass bands, marching-band, and the charm of which lives to exchange flowers, more than "to fight". In 1993, an important innovation will be tempted, - to present the battles of flowers, place Masséna and avenue de Verdun, instead of the traditional Promenade des Anglais.
A decorated with flowers float measures six metres high, seven metres long, two metres wide, on each of them, two to three girls among about fifty young models, selected players very attentively and who will be luxuriously made up and dressed up by feathers, glitter and paste.
A flowery parade includes about thirty floats decorated with myriads of local flowers, accompanied by several musical, French and foreign groups.
Floats are decorated in read hand, by means of petals of thousand flowers, stuck one by one in the night and the morning which precede every "battle".
Carnations, roses, gladiolas, tokios, gerberas, mimosas, dalhias, liliums, etc.... Are carefully pricked in breads of special mos), keeping the flowers fresh.
For the set of table linen "petals" of a big float, it is necessary to count 80 in 100 boots of carnations of 50 flowers each, that is about 5000 flowers.
By float, one places between 60 in 70 pillows of moss. Each bear) 60 to 65 flowers and foliages. It is necessary to count from 3600 to more than 4000 stalks. |
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