Description

This ceramic head (possibly for a funerary urn) depicts a masked head in the form of an animal with large canines, ears broken and tongue extended. A large cord which is knotted under the neck helps us identify it as a masked person. This object was displayed in the co-curated gallery trail "Nothing Without Us: Experiences of Disability" at the Pitt Rivers Museum, curated by Kyle Lewis Jordan, running from 16th November 2023 - 6th October 2024.

Masking for performance and ritual occurs in multiple cultures across the world, and can serve as a form of empowerment. Co-producer Hannah Holden was fascinated by this, and it's inclusion in the Human Form in Art display, as a neurodivergent person for whom "masking" means performing neurotypicality.

Community curation: I find it interesting that these figures are designed to represent some kind of ideal human. It makes me think about the importance we place on masking; or rather, the importance of masking that is put on us by society. The emotions you can see in this case are, by their very nature, studied. In my early teens, I had to spend a lot of time studying social cues in order to gain access to social spaces. I think most people don’t realise just how much of human interaction is based on rituals. When these things don’t come naturally, you essentially learn them like scripts. - Hannah H, Museum Enjoyer