Golden Spider mask

Artist Bita Ghezelayagh refers to this mask as her “lockdown friend”. The green base fabric is a handwoven silk velvet made on a traditional loom in Kashan, Iran. The web is silkscreen-printed on to the velvet. Inspired by the V&A’s 2012 display of the Golden Spider Silk Cape made in Madagascar, Ghezelayagh added a crawling spider to this web. She collaborated via Zoom with an embroiderer at the Royal School of Needlework in the UK. Ghezelayagh talks about spiders being symbols of the cosmos, while the web is metaphorical for the homes we are all stuck in during lockdown.

Bita Ghezelayagh, UK/Iran

2021

Designed in London, England

Made in London, England

Victoria and Albert Museum
ME.16-2021