Sawt Falasteen - Across the sea from Venice, Albanian studio crafts carnival masks

Every year, the Venice Art Mask Factory in Albania's Shkoder produces more than 20,000 hand-crafted masks, including 1,700 unique pieces this year alone, to be donned by carnival revellers from Rio to Tokyo.

A lion's share of the masks crafted this season were delivered across the Adriatic Sea to Venice, where this year's carnival was dedicated to Marco Polo -- one of the city's most iconic residents with celebrations marking 700 years since his death.

"With feathers, lace or Swarovski crystals, Venetian masks this year are made to attract all eyes thanks to their sparkling elegance," Edmond Angoni, the owner and leading artist behind the Venice Art Mask Factory, told AFP.

Angoni also owns eight shops in Venice where his creations -- costumes, gilded masks, and sumptuous dresses -- are sold for up to 5,000 euros ($5,350) each.

Among the most popular items this year are large animal masks inspired by the works of Austrian painter Gustav Klimt and Czech artist Alphonse Mucha.

Each new model is first sculpted in clay, then smoothed over with layers of paper mache.

The process includes nearly a dozen stages and it can take weeks to complete a single piece.

"Each mask has its own story, its own spirit, its own mystery and magic. Above all, each mask is a work of art," said Gise Zeqo, who has been working at the studio since it opened 27 years ago.

Since opening its doors in 1997, Angoni's studio has produced hundreds of thousands of masks, including those worn in Stanley Kubrick's erotic thriller "Eyes Wide Shut", starring Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise.

"From the simplest to the most extravagant, large or small, each mask is a unique piece, a unique work of art," Angoni told AFP.

Alongside classic masks of Harlequin and Pulcinella that hark back to the Venice of old, new pieces feature the faces of Marilyn Monroe and Michael Jackson along with characters from the Netflix hit "Money Heist".

The showroom alone attracts curious visitors in droves.

"I'm in this extremely beautiful place, full of masks," said Anna Lisa Manciani, a customer from Italy, as she shopped for a mask for herself and her husband.

"It's hard to choose."

A.Suleiman--SF-PST