It was 2001 when I first met Giorgio at the Italian pavilion in EPCOT Center Orlando. He was painting a mask, just like the ones I had seen in Venice. In fact, the tag on the mask said “Balocoloc Venezia”, identical to the one my wife wore during Carnevale the year before. Giorgio explained that the woman from whom we purchased our masks in Venice was Silvana Martin, his mother!

The Venetian tradition of Carnevale started in the 1100s and was quite popular during the renaissance. In the days of t...