Unmasking Masks

27 October 2026 28 February 2027

From 27 October 2026 to 28 February 2027

For millennia and across every continent, men and women have been creating masks. Used in rituals, theatre, carnivals, cinema, sport and even contemporary art, they take on a wide variety of forms and are made from an extremely diverse range of materials. Yet behind this diversity lies a single story: that of humanity. With Unmasking Masks, the Barbier-Mueller Museum presents a unique exhibition that goes beyond conventional classifications. The works are not displayed according to their geographical origin or historical period, but are brought into dialogue around a universal question: why have human beings, everywhere and throughout history, felt the need to wear masks ?

A dialogue between cultures and eras

The exhibition brings together 84 masks from Africa, Asia, Europe, Oceania and the Americas, as well as contemporary creations… Masks used in rituals or funerals, in theatre, cinema, sport or for professional purposes: objects that, on the surface, seem very different yet resonate with one another. A Baoulé mask from Côte d’Ivoire, a funerary mask from the island of Java or a Noh theatre mask are thus displayed alongside works by Romuald Hazoumè, a piece by Jean Tinguely, a hockey helmet, a welder’s mask and even a Commedia dell’arte mask. Through these juxtapositions, the exhibition invites us to ask: Who are we? Why do we want to become someone else? What are we seeking to hide, protect, reveal or transcend when we mask our faces?

The mask: a universal language

The mask is not merely an ethnographic object or a relic of the past. It accompanies the great human experiences: celebrating, protecting, impressing, playing, passing on traditions, engaging in dialogue with the invisible, or confronting fear. By concealing a face, it can also reveal a deeper identity and enable us to cross a boundary, to leave everyday life behind and enter another world — whether sacred, artistic, sporting or imaginary. The exhibition thus reminds us that the mask does not belong to the past: it is still very much alive. The contemporary works of Romuald Hazoumè and Jean Tinguely, in particular, demonstrate how artists continue to embrace the mask to explore memory, war, identity, the environment and even our society.

1. Laké or Lakhé mask. Nepal, Kathmandu Valley. Newar. 2nd half of the 20th century. Polychrome aluminium.
Jè mask. Ivory Coast. Yohure. Wood. 20th century. Collected in the early 1950s, acquired from Emil Storrer in 1979.
Kplekple bla women’s face mask from the goli ensemble. Ivory Coast. Baule. Polychrome medium-hard wood (reddish-brown accented with black and white). Formerly in the Charles Ratton collection.

An exhibition that invites you to see things differently

During the first month of the exhibition, some labels will be deliberately reversed. Visitors then become investigators: observing the works, comparing forms, materials and expressions becomes essential to rediscover the pleasure of looking before that of knowing. This presentation also challenges the way we visit a museum and reminds us that a work of art can never be reduced to a few lines on a label.

Practical information

📆 From 27 October 2026 to 28 February 2027

🥂 Opening : Tuesday 27 October 2026 at 6.00 pm

📍 Barbier-Mueller Museum

Rue Jean-Calvin 10, 1204 Geneva

🕚 Open daily from 11.00 am to 5.00 pm