Sergio Boldrin

The city of Venice immediately brings to mind its famous carnival, with its 18th-century costumes and elaborate masks, behind which people conceal their identity. Besides dozens of shops selling mass-produced objects that have nothing to do with tradition, there are still a few workshops where masks are crafted by hand. Two of them are run by master Sergio Boldrin, aided by his brother Massimo. One is a tiny studio a stone’s throw away from the celebrated Rialto bridge. This crowded little space is at the same time a laboratory, shop and archive, dotted with photos of the famous people who have donned Boldrin’s masks, including Tom Cruise in the Kubrick movie Eyes Wide Shut.

The masks are modelled in plaster moulds and then decorated with acrylic or watercolour paint. Sergio is also an accomplished Expressionist painter whose work has featured at the Venice Biennale. His hardy Teutonic style allows him to balance his feelings about terrorism, predatory tourism and plastic masks from China with the joy and merriment of masquerade.

When Sergio Boldrin was growing up there were no mask shops in Venice. Making masks in papier mâché became an exceptional way for Sergio to participate in a reborn interest in the craft. Stimulated by the revival of Carnival in the late 1970s, Sergio founded La Bottega dei Mascareri in 1984. He and his younger brother Massimo create and finish their hand-painted masks, following rich traditions and knowledge of a craft that dates back to the 13th century. Their atelier is now one of the few remaining authentic mask-making workshops in Venice.

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