The Kurent

Traditional Ethnographic Characters

Kurent

A mystical character chasing the winter away.

Kurent or Korant, as people living in countryside would call the mask, is the most popular and numerous traditional carnival figure. Its origin has still not been completely understood, although there are some hypotheses associating it to the Illyrian and Celtic tradition, to the mythical followers of the goddess Cybele worshipped on the territory of Poetovio in the late antiquity, to the Slovene ancestors, to the establishment of Uskoks (Croatian Habsburg soldiers) in the 16th century, and many more.

According to an ancient belief Kurent is a demon chasing winter away and calling spring to the country. Although Kurent has long lost its magic power, it cannot be considered as an ordinary carnival mask, for it still inspires mystical and powerful feelings.

On 7 December, 2017 Kurent became

UNESCO’s intangible cultural heritage of humanity.

Kurent’s garb or kurentija.

The most prominent part of the Kurent’s outfit is the head-mask which also makes Kurents different from each other. The ones on the Ptuj field have the ears made of turkey or goose feathers and horns made of straw or wood wrapped in leather and decorated with colourful paper flowers and ribbons. On the other hand the ones from Haloze and villages on the Drava field wear genuine cow horns and ears of either sackcloth or leather. The facial part made of leather is sewn in the head-mask bearing holes for eyes and mouth. The teeth are made of white beans threaded on a string.A rather long tongue is made of fabric or leather. Kurents wear a coat of sheep skin girded about with a chain with five cow bells, high boots and red or green knitted socks. A wooden club that Kurents brandish in their hands is covered with hedgehog skin at one end. The outfit of Kurents is called “kurentija” and is nowadays made of sheep skin. However Kurents from the village of Okič in Haloze, for example, have coats made of rabbit or even goat skin.

During the first decades of the 20th century, the “kurentija” was made by countrymen themselves of materials available at home: old fur coats, rabbit or goat skin, and other. The description of Kurent, found in the register from the end of the 19th century in the village of Markovci, describes Kurent as “if he has just escaped from Hell and made friends with the Devil itself”. He wore a sheep skin inside-out, while the facial part of the head-cap was made of old leather and was furry behind. On the top, there were horns made either of leather or of felt, and on the tips were attached goose feathers. Kurent had one big cow bell tied to his back with which he announced himself from far.

Preserving the heritage.

In the past only fully grown-up men were allowed to wear the Kurent’s outfit. In small groups they would visit not only houses in their own village but also in neighbouring ones, from Shrove Sunday to Ash Wednesday. Houses where Kurents stopped were believed to be lucky throughout the year, while Kurent rolling himself on the ground meant bad luck. In the second half of the 20th century Kurents started coming in big groups to the town of Ptuj to perform and present themselves at Kurentovanje. Soon they were invited to participate in other carnivals and folklore events both home and abroad. Nowadays several hundreds of Kurents belong to either groups in town or the ones in villages. The majority are young men and married men, but there are also young women and wives. Kurents’ outfits are made by specialised craftsmen and although the price is rather high, the number of orders has been increasing. Accompanied by the devil, Kurents make their rounds from Candlemas to Ash Wednesday.

Traditional Ethnographic Characters

Kurent

A mystical character chasing the winter away.

On 7 December, 2017 Kurent became

UNESCO’s intangible cultural heritage of humanity.

Kurent’s garb or kurentija.

Preserving the heritage.

Traditional Ethnographic Characters

Jürek and Rabolj

The Devil

The Bear

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