Narrativizing the Face Mask as the Design of Dissent at the Intersection of Protest and Pandemic

Wearing a face mask is now a symbol of community protection against COVID-19, while at the same time an important element of pro-democracy street protests that erupted across the world in 2019 and 2020. This article attempts to narrativize this ternary relationship of mask, resistance, and pandemic as the design of dissent in the early COVID-19 era. It claims that the ongoing Hong Kong pro-democracy protests help us to decode the dual sociocultural meanings of mask wearing practices by first considering the practice as a sign of political resistance in the form of tear gas protection. It then explores the face mask’s evolution as emblematic of the fight against COVID-19 and the right to health. The author argues that making and wearing this humble face covering are practices of design of dissent that connect local and global communities.