A MASKED JOURNEY THROUGH HISTORY

ON THE MASK AS CULTURAL OBJECT: FROM ANCIENT RITUAL TO THE BEHIND THE MASK SERIES AT 1812

THE MASK HAS SERVED HUMAN CULTURE FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS. ONE OF THE OLDEST OBJECTS IN THE HISTORY OF HUMAN EXPRESSION AND ONE OF THE MOST ENDURING. ITS FUNCTION HAS SHIFTED ACROSS ERAS. ITS POWER HAS NOT.

THE HISTORY

IN ANCIENT RITUAL, THE MASK CHANNELLED SPIRITUAL ENERGY. SHAMANS WORE IT TO COMMUNE WITH FORCES BEYOND THE VISIBLE WORLD. IN EGYPT, FUNERAL MASKS ENSURED SAFE PASSAGE INTO THE AFTERLIFE. IN GREECE AND ROME, THE THEATRICAL MASK GAVE VOICE AND FORM TO THE FULL SPECTRUM OF HUMAN EXPERIENCE — TRAGEDY, COMEDY, GODS AND MORTALS.

THE VENETIAN CARNIVAL INTRODUCED THE MASK AS A TOOL OF SOCIAL LIBERATION. BEHIND IT, CLASS DISTINCTIONS DISSOLVED AND IDENTITIES SHIFTED. THE MASQUERADE BALL OF THE RENAISSANCE ADDED INTRIGUE, ROMANCE AND POLITICAL MANOEUVRE TO ITS HISTORY. THE MASK WAS SIMULTANEOUSLY CONCEALMENT AND REVELATION. THE SURFACE CHANGED. THE PERSON BEHIND IT WAS FREED.

THE 1812 CONNECTION

AT 1812, THE MASK HOLDS PARTICULAR RESONANCE. THE BEHIND THE MASK SERIES EXPLORES WHAT LIES BENEATH THE SURFACE OF THE BRAND — THE INFLUENCES, INTENTIONS AND CREATIVE DECISIONS THAT ARE NOT VISIBLE IN THE FINISHED PRODUCT BUT MAKE IT WHAT IT IS.

THE MASK IS NOT CONCEALMENT. IT IS REVELATION. WHAT LIES BENEATH THE SURFACE IS MORE INTERESTING THAN THE SURFACE ITSELF. THIS IS AS TRUE OF A LUXURY SHOE AS IT IS OF A VENETIAN CARNIVAL MASK.