To Each His Own Mask

We live in times of crises and failing economic systems. No wonder that questions of change are recurrent. Protest culture is having a revival.

Every revolution has its icons. Nowadays, we see the mask show up. Wearing a mask is a carnivalesque strategy. Carnival is a ritual, temporarily dismantling social and political regimes, suspending norms and values. But after this limited period of allowed disorder and change, the order is restored.

So the question arises: does this current wave of protests serve as an illusion of carnival? Do they actually affirm the established power structures? Do they make us forget?

What if we look beyond the fun face of carnival? Can we use carnival to reach a real revolution? Wasn’t the purpose of the ancient carnival ritual to remember, to look winter demons in the eyes and transform to spring?

To Each His Own Mask is an artistic documentary and an audiovisual trip by filmmaker and visual artist Tine Guns, who was part of a previous program in Netwerk with the solo exhibition To Each His Own Mask, 17.01 — 06.03 2016.