The Cincu Run of the Lole Ritual. Fieldwork Experiences

This text explores the Fuga Lolelor [The Run of the Lole] custom of Cincu, Brașov county, from an ethnographic and auto-ethnographic (the relevant inserts are given in italics and in bold) perspective and seeks to understand the relationships between ritual, community, and processes of patrimonialisation. Springing from my experience of taking part in the ritual as a researcher and also from my discussions with the master mask-maker Uwe Constantin Boghian, it discusses how the tradition functions as a living social practice sustained not only by the relationships between the Lole and the hosts but also by the involvement of the local community and of those who come home from the diaspora to participate. My analysis of this fieldwork, which juxtaposes changes taking place in the ritual with the role of the Museum and with tensions between transmission, classification and living-out, demonstrates how Fuga Lolelor continues to function as a space in which the idea of belonging is practised and renegotiated.