Fallas, a traditional Valencian celebration, involves the creation of large sculptures (ninots) that are displayed and ultimately burned on March 19th for Saint Joseph's Day. Over the years, the materials and techniques used to create these figures have evolved from wood and wax to modern materials like polyester and styrofoam while still being a significant cultural event. The process of creating fallas is intricate and requires approval from neighborhood associations, showcasing both artistic creativity and community involvement.

1. FALLAS / FOGUERES AND NINOTS

2. In themiddle 18th Century, Fallas wereonlyone more eventforthetypicalactivitiesprogram of Saint Joseph’sday, marchthe 19th, in Valencia.In themorning of marchthe18th somestreetswouldappearshowingstraw and ragdollsnexttothewalls. Theserepresentedsomebodyorsomethingthatcouldbecriticized.Kidscollectingwood and oldfurnishingtoburnit at night.Duringtheday (marchthe 18th) kidswouldcollectwood and oldfurnishing and pile thattoburnitwiththedolls at sunsetthenightbefore Saint Joseph. Magazine iIlustration . 1860

3. Cercle de Bellesarts falla. 1914Doctor Collado square falla. 1912Quart-Doctor Monserrat falla. 1913Quart-Doctor Monserrat falla. 1914

4. Buttherewas a complaintaboutthesedolls and piles of oldfurnishing and wood. As theywerelocatednexttothewalls in thestreets, theydisturbedpedestrianswalks and traffic. Construction of Falla in Escalante street, In Cabañal NeighbourhoodFalla “día del estatut” / “Statute’sday” 1934And as a reponsetothatcomplain fallas startedtobelocatedright in themiddle of widerstreets and crossroads. Thatwaytheybecame round sculptureswithmanyconstructiveposibilities. However fallas keepbeing a bigdisruptionfortraffic in town.

5. 1934: Firstdoll (ninot) anual exhibition in la Lonja Valencia. Everyyeartheaudiencewhovisittheexhibition vote forthebest ninot. Thewinerdoesn’tgetburntand goestothe Ninot museumcolection. LETS SEE HOW FALLAS DOLLS (NINOTS) HAVE BEEN CHANGING IN TIMESet of dolls in thefirst ninot anual exhibition in 1934, La lonja ValenciaIaia i neta / Grandma and grandaughter 1934Llauradorsballant / Dancingfarmers 1935Mareta / Mummy 1936

6. Allthesedollsweremadeoutwith a woodstructure and real clothes. Theirhands and faces weremodeled in waxwithhotpaletteknives and bladesVenedorad’alls / TheGarlicseller 1940Trini i regalito 1941El vell del violí / Theoldviolinist 1942However,Trini and regalito’s faces and handsweremadeout of polyester. Fallas Materialshavebeenchangingsincetheystarted. Falleros artistsare allwayslookingforbettermaterials and procedures. Theycurrently use polyester whentheyhavetomake a sculpture, not a falla, whichisnotgoingtobeburnt.

7. GULLIVER (VALENCIA)Itwasdesignedby Falleros artists in the 80’s and madeout of poliester

8. LETS SEE HOW FALLAS DOLLS (NINOTS) HAVE BEEN CHANGING IN TIMEAgranador / sweeper 1956The oldpeanutsellerismadestillwithwax, a woodstructuure and real clothes. Butthesweeper’s handsweremadewithpaper mache, and hisfacewithwax. Thisisprobablythefirst time paper mache wasusedtomake fallas.Cacauera estraperlista1943

9. Thesewerethefirst time real clothesdisapeared, beingdepictedonlywiththesculpturematerials. Theindianfamilywasmadeonlywithpaper mache and thePrehistoricmarriagewasmadeoutwith polyester.Indiantouristfamily. / Familia India turista 1956PrehistoricMarriage. / MatrimoniPrehistòric 1957Allthe fallas wereallwayspaintedwithoilpaint. Butcurrentlythey are paintedwithacrilicorplasticpaintwhichdriesfaster and iseasierto use.

10. Oldmen chat. / Terttulia de vells 1960

11. PROCESS TO MAKE A FALLATRADITIONAL WAY: PAPER MACHEFIRST: THE SKETCH AND THE SCALE MODELA Sketch and a scalemodel are presentedtothe Fallera neighbourhoodassociationtobeaproved. Thisassociations are theoneswhopaytotheartistforthe falla tobemade.Falla Conde Altea- Almirante Cadarso 2011Once theproject, through sketch and scalemodel, isaproved, the falla startstobemade.

12. Falla Convento de Jerusalén 2011

13. Falla Micer Masco 2011

14. Falla Na Jordana 2011

15. Falla Plaza del Pilar 2011

16. Thisisthe sketch forthe 2012 forthe MUNICIPAL falla.Everyyearallthe fallas participate in a contestforthebests fallas. Theybelongtodifferentsectionsdependingonhowmuchtheycost.The MUNICIPAL falla doesntparticipate in thatcontest, cause it’spaidwithpublicmoney and itismuch more expensivethantheothers.Butthere’snotonlyone sketch forevey falla.

17. Hereyou can see a sketch plan (plant, air sight) of the MUNICIPAL FALLA 2012.

18. And hereyou can se separatelytwodifferentscenes in detail.

19. NEXT: MAKING THE FALLAMakingthe Falla is a longprocessthattakestheartistsallyear round. Thelasttwomonthstheyusuallyworkveryhardtobeon time.We’regonnaseethemakingprocess of the Municipal falla in the 1991. Thisoneismade in thetraditionalmaterials and procedures: Wood and threelayers of paper mache whichpreparedtobepainted and colored at theend.Firstthescalemodelisdividedintopartstobecopied in the real size.Scalemodels are madeout in plaster and iseasyto divide themwith a saw

20. Nextstepismaking a woodstructture of alltheparts in the real size

21. Whenalltheparts are built, theartistcheckthattheyjoin and match toguetherwell

22. Thenthey can modelwithclaythe figures overthewoodstructure.Theclayneedstobefreshduringalltheprocess cause it’sgonnabe removed.Whenalltheclaymodelingis done theartiststake a mold of itwithplaster.Withthemold done, theyrecoverthesamevolumebutthis time done withthreelayers of paper mache.

23. So theyattachthepaper mache tothewoodstructurethat has theclay removed.Afterthat, Thepaintingprocessstarts

24. Whenalltheparts are painted and readyto set up. They can bestartedtoputtoguether in thestreet.Thisprocessusuallytakes a longnight. Butthe MUNICIPAL falla and someother BIG onestakeabout a weektobe set up.

25. MAKING THE FALLA WITH STYROFOAM (CURRENT PROCESS AND MATERIALS)Styrofoamisveryeasytoworkwith. There’smanydifferentshapesartists can get in ordertobeclosertothe target volume.Butit’sverycommonto use stryrofoamsheetsstickedtoguethertomakethesculptureArtistscallit “modelingthestyrofoam” butwhattheyactually do iscarvingitwith metal brushes and cutters.Whenthevolumeis done thenitscoveredwithnewspaperstobepainted.Thistechniqueismuchfaster, easier and letsartistsget imposible figures. Butitis a littlecontaminantwhenitburns, so it’sbeenverycriticized. They are currentlysearchingforlesscontaminantmaterials.

26. MAKING THE FALLA WITH STYROFOAM (CURRENT PROCESS AND MATERIALS)Thetown of Alicante“FOGUERES DE SAN JUAN” ( SAINT JUAN’S BONFIRES). Bondfires are burntthe 21st of july. San Juan’sbondfires are a little bit youngerthan fallas.Both are celebrationsclosetospring and summer. And both are purifyingfireceremonies.Itsdifficulttofindsculturalappearingdifferencesbetween fallas and bonfires. Somepeoplesaythey are very similar and someotherssaythey look prettymuchthesame. Municipal Falla 2011Municipal Foguera 2011

27. ANYWAYS AND ALL IN ALL THESE TWO ARE A VERY ARTISTIC FORMS OF CELEBRATIONTHEY BELONG TO OUR (COMUNITAT VALENCIANA) VISUAL CULTURE, AND SO WE MUST KNOW, PRESERVE AND LOVE THEM

28. IMAGE RESOURCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY Ninots ardiendo.jpg (slide1): http://www.urbevalencia.es/wp-content/uploads/fallas2.jpg

29. FALLAS MUSEUM Guide, Ayto de Valencia. SLIDE 2: Peleles 1930.jpg,recogiendo trastos.jpg, ilustración 1860.jpg SLIDE 3: El día del estatut.jpg, falla escalante 1934.jpg.L’INDULT DEL FOC (VOLUM I y II). Coord Gil Manuel Hdez y Martí. Ayto. Valencia 2002. SLIDE 4: cercle de bellesarts 1914.jpg, doctor collado 1912.jpg, falla quartmonserrat 1913.jpg, falla quartmonserrat 1914.jpg SLIDE 5:Sketches and sclaemodels are fromwww.fallas.com SLIDES:

30. Falla makingprocess: Ayto de Valencia 1991. from URL: http://usuarios.multimania.es/Cargonmar/comosehaceunafalla.htmPicturestakenby José Martínez Mollá. SLIDES:

31. STYROFOAM SLIDE:

32. poliespanfalla.JPG http://www.iesturis.com/data/IMGP1708.JPG,

33. foto_poliespan.jpg http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_kSeBUtXRB8/Te SEfJ8fSI/AAAAAAAAAJM/grAJwemUPBE/s1600/foto_poliespan.jpg,

34. styrofoam_hd300.jpg http://www.krumber.com/styrofoam_hd300.jpg,

35. metal brush.jpg http://www.gordonbrush.com/images/426ss.jpg, cuchillas.jpg http://images.villageorigin.com/003558-004/001.jpg?s=600

36. SLIDE Comparing Fallas and fogueres :

37. falla 2011.jpg http://i1205.photobucket.com/albums/bb440/fotos_fallas_2/2011/ff11/ayto/tf/tayto00p.jpg

38. foguera20011.jpg http://www.porahinoes.es/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/MG_6761_filtered.jpg

39. LAST FIRE SLIDE: fire.jpg http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQG1hAIJMl2r3DIqCS6oUUnZZaTwcH45dQJOgIgMYBO1XvqwTadH9CSuzjV