|
Florida's diverse communities all set aside time from their work routines
for spiritual observances and festive celebrations. These special occasions
are typically marked by a variety of forms of artistic expression, including
the making of objects. Ritual and festive objects may symbolize and facilitate
contact with the divine, embody myths, intensify communal experience,
or express religious and ethnic identities. Many types of material are
used to make these items, from the wood of Russian Orthodox icons to the
cloth and feathers of Haitian Vodou pakèts (charms). Generally,
there are specialists in communities who are responsible for the production
of ritual and festive objects. In some cases, these individuals possess
specific spiritual knowledge as well as artistic skills.
Some objects are associated with rites of passage: rituals that symbolize
transitions in life, such as birth, entry into adulthood, marriage and
death. Among the objects of this type that are made in Florida are Nicaraguan
piñatas for birthdays and first communions, dazzling dresses for
Cuban quinceañeras (coming-of-age ceremonies for young women) and
Jewish ketubot (decorated marriage contracts). Other objects are used
for calendrical festivals or holidays. There are Ukrainian and Slovakian
Easter eggs, Filipino parols (Christmas lanterns), Mexican altars for
the Days of the Dead, Trinidadian costumes for Carnival (observed on Columbus
Day weekend in Miami), and Bahamian Junkanoo costumes for the celebration
of the Goombay Festival and Martin Luther King's birthday. Typically,
new items are constructed each time a community observes a calendrical
festival or rite of passage.
|
