BEYOND THE MASK

When Covid-19 hit in 2020, museums the world over closed their doors due to public safety and health measures. The International Council of Museums (ICOM) Costume Committee’s “Clothing the

Pandemic” (clothingthepandemic. museum), a virtual exhibition of Covid-19 face masks from around the world, was born to connect museums and the public during this pivotal period of time. Documenting a historical moment in modern civilisation and showing how a daily necessity has become a signifier of so much more, it presents more than 100 masks curated by participating museums across the world, which are categorised into six themes, such as Art & Intervention and Politics & Protest.

From far left: Rahul Mishra’s Butterfly People mask, Raymond Wong’s mask and Andrew Gn’s mask are among the creations curated by Singapore’s Asian Civilisations Museum for the virtual exhibition