Masking animals

This chapter explores the semiotic and ethical implications of masking in human-animal interactions, focusing on the theatrical performances of Japanese macaques within the tradition of Sarumawashi . Drawing on examples from contemporary photography, popular entertainment, and experimental film—such as Jasper Doest&s;s award-winning image The Masked Ape and Pierre Huyghe&s;s Human Mask —the chapter analyzes how the act of placing a human mask on a nonhuman animal oscillates between anthropomorphic inclusion and symbolic subjugation. The mask emerges as a complex dispositif that both confers and denies subjectivity, revealing the ideological mechanisms through which animals are aestheticized, instrumentalized, and de-faced. Combining visual analysis with philosophical reflection, the chapter argues that masking animals illuminates broader regimes of visibility and power, exposing the fragile boundary between species, the contested status of the face, and the persistent anthropocentrism underpinning human cultural production. Ultimately, it suggests that contemporary art can reconfigure the mask as a critical tool—one that unveils not animal otherness, but the alienation of a humanity that masks others to assert its own exceptionalism.