L'oggetto-maschera

Ethnographic and anthropological museums often display collections of masks and small statues used initially as functional tools for ritual celebrations in particular socio-cultural contexts. When masks are musealized, they lose their original status. From performing, living and functional ritual objects, they become a museum objects that can be accessed by visitors belonging to a socio-cultural context other than the one where the reference ritual is celebrated. In addition, the musealized mask becomes a static object that emphasizes the absence of the body of the actor-performer, making the archaeological evidence of the ritual action shine through. Since one of the tasks of museum institutions is to interpret and exhibit the tangible and intangible cultural heritage, communicating it through various experiences and offering visitors possibilities for reflection and knowledge sharing, the museological theory and the museographic-expository system must reconnect the object-mask to the ritual action and the socio-cultural context of origin. Using the theories developed in the field of Performance Studies and New Theatrology, museology and museography, and identifying as a case study the collection of Sanni masks of the Museo di Etnomedicina A. Scarpa of the University of Genoa, the article aims to examine these issues, aiming to suggest possible solutions for the protection, preservation and valorization of intangible cultural heritage, in line with the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, signed by UNESCO in 2003.