Medusa and Kerber
2009
Darija Stipanic
Carved & painted wood
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“Both of my works; Medusa and Kerber are sculptures mades of carved and painted wood. They are also "balte".An explanation of the term balta and its function - Zvončari ("bell-ringers") are traditional carnival masks. In the region around the city Rijeka (Kastav) there are several villages with their groups. They were added to UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2009.

During carnival, Zvončari march from village to village throughout the region, following the same centuries-old route, making an extraordinary amount of noise. Mačuka or bačuka is part of the equipment of bell ringers in the Kastav region.. Balta in Hungarian means ax, and mačuka / bačuka is a word of Romanian origin (maciuca), meaning club or batina. Both terms denote an object, ie a weapon used in combat, and bell ringers are a combat group, not only to fight the evil spirits of winter and summon new life,(fertility) but also have direct warrior characteristics, which suggests the legend of their pursuit Turks or Tatars in ancient times when they broke in all the way to our sides.  Balta, now it has become a decorative element of the equipment of bell ringers.”