CORONA NATION

Make your own masks photography series, 2020

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Ali Cabbar’s covid masks project, titled Corona Nation, reflects on the social and environmental realities revealed by the COVID-19 pandemic through the symbolic form of the face mask. During a time when protective masks became both a necessity and a global shortage, people were encouraged to make their own masks using whatever materials were available. Cabbar’s project grows directly from this moment, transforming the everyday face mask into an artistic and critical statement.

Using wildflowers, newspaper pages, and old dust masks, he created masks that speak about vulnerability, fear  and survival.​

The flower masks emphasize the resilience and quiet power of nature, while the newspaper masks reference the overwhelming flow of news surrounding the pandemic and the global anxiety caused by shortages, restrictions, and uncertainty. Created during lockdown in Brussels, the project reflects both personal observation and collective experience.​

Corona Nation project is both a visual archive of an extraordinary period and a reflection on how crisis reshapes daily life. It invites viewers to think about protection not only as a physical necessity, but also as a social, political, and ecological question.