PhD Program in Historical studies
The Camel between Sicily and Calabria
The symbol of the camel, a cloth or papier-mâché puppet mounted on a wooden framework (supported and “brought to life” by one or more carriers), is one of the most popular exotic elements in Southern Italian festive scenography. The identity of this ambiguous figure is generally traced to the clash between Moors and Christians and the Norman “liberation” of the South from the Arabs, of which the camel would be the emblem. The most important and famous is undoubtedly the Camiddu of Messina, even if it is the region of Calabria which has the largest number of specimens. Even though Messina and Sicily have an older tradition, which has been a source of inspiration for the same towns in Calabria, is the other side of the Strait that today we are witnessing an exciting revival of gigantic zoomorphic figures: in addition to camels, donkeys and ponies, we also find elephants and giraffes. In most cases, these are papier-mâché, cloth and cardboard animals, some of which are burned at the end of the festivities, after having worked as a dancing scaffolding in support of an intricate fireworks display. In this version, they resemble the so-called pupe or pupazze of Abruzzo (pullicinelle in Calabria), or huge female figures (hollow inside and with a skeleton of wood covered), which, for some scholars, is an Italian variant of the European processional and parading giants, is also used for the fireworks show that concludes the festivities. These types of camels, turned into exploding machines, are now predominant in the feasts of Calabria. Less preponderant is, however, the most ancient and complex figure of the camel surmounted by a small Moor in the ommegang (procession) of Termonde, Belgium (where a colorful group of giants and fantastic animals take part in a parade). As for the giants, even if there are several explanations for the camel, which feature a mix of the historical and legendary. The original meaning of the Sicilian-Calabrian camel is almost always attributed to the epic story of Roger I of Sicily, the Norman Count who put an end to Arab rule in southern Italy. Only are there allusions to the holographic scene of the Nativity of Jesus. At Palmi (Reggio Calabria), the figure of the camel has recently been replaced by that of the horse.