BURNING MAN FESTIVAL AND THE MASK WE WEAR

 

BURNING MAN FESTIVAL AND THE MASK WE WEAR

Out on the playa of Nevada's Black Rock Desert, more than 50,000 participants gathered last week to form Black Rock City, a temporary city that became the home of the 26th annual burning man festival. Every year, participants from around the world descend on the playa -- performers, artists, free spirits, and more -- to form a self-reliant community, to dance, to express themselves and take in the spectacle of the festival. Reuters photographer Jim Urquhart spent the week on the playa, and returned with these photographs, taking us along on a virtual visit to Burning Man 2012.

Party in the U.S.A.: More than 60,000 people descend on Nevada desert for Burning Man festival and a week-long trip of debauchery and excess at the nation's largest festival In its 27th year, there are already more people at the current event than attended all of last year's festival The largest outdoor arts festival in North America is currently underway, with as many as 68,000 people enjoying a week of partying, debauchery and excess at Burning Man 2013. The annual art, music and everything-else festival takes place in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada and attracts visitors from around the world to spend a week in the remote desert cut off from much of the outside world. Described as an 'experimental community,' it incorporates plenty of partying plus lighting massive fire displays, donning eye-catching costumes and performing passionate dances at sunrise. Organizers stress it's mostly up to participants to decide what Burning Man is. Party-goers gather outside a temple art structure at Burning Man in Gerlach, Nevada on Wednesday Not an ancient civilization but an aerial view of the Burning Man 2013 arts and music festival which as attracted 68,000 people from all over the world It's all about self-expression: A couple kisses at this year's Burning Man festival where people have gathered for the event which is dedicated to community, art, self-reliance and having a good time Beyond the Thunderdome: A participant bicycles away from the effigy of the Man (top right) at the 2013 Burning Man arts and music festival in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada Earlier this year the federal government issued a permit for 68,000 people from all over the world to gather at the sold out festival. This year’s event is already the largest ever, organizers said more than 55,000 people had already arrived at Black Rock City at noon on Tuesday. That is almost as many as were present at last year’s event during its peak. Traditionally only the hard-core burners arrived when the gates opened Monday and a crush of people often referred to as ‘Weekend Warriors’ would show up sometime between Thursday and Saturday, reports NBC Bay Area.   By morning on Wednesday, there were 15 streets circling the temporary city created by attendees and the forecast remains free of dust storms. Many have been impressed by the size and look of this year's Man Base, a structure that houses the iconic 'Man' figure burned each year near the event's close. Inside a flying saucer under the Man is a multi-level structure with zoetropes, a giant chandelier and views of Black Rock City. Slides serve as exits. The largest outdoor arts festival in North America is currently underway, with 68,000 people enjoying a week of partying, debauchery and excess at the Burning Man 2013 arts and music festival The annual art, music and everything-else festival takes place in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada and brings together people from all over the world to spend a week in the remote desert cut off from much of the outside world Celebrating its 27th year, the biggest tradition comes at the end of the week - on Sept 2 - when participants will set fire to a giant wooden 'man', spotted at the bottom of this photo The art theme this year is ‘Cult Cargo’ and focuses on a strange being called John Frum. 'He is known to us by many names, this Visitor from Elsewhere, dispenser of endless abundance and wielder of mysterious technologies: John Frum, Quetzalcoatl, Osiris, "Bob,"' reads the website. 'His cargo is splendid, his generosity boundless, his motives beyond our understanding. But across the ages and around the world, the stories all agree: one day he will return, bearing great gifts. 'Our theme this year asks three related questions; who is John Frum, where is he really from, and where, on spaceship Earth, are we all going?' The biggest tradition comes at the end of the week – on Sept 2 - when participants will set fire to a giant wooden ‘man’ that gives the event its name. Tickets for the event costs up to $650.     The sign that greets attendees at the gate of the festival with the year's theme of ‘Cargo Cult’ on it, right, and, left, attendees show off temporary tattoos that they have just gotten An aerial view of the Burning Man festival in which the people look like ants: Earlier this year the federal government issued a permit for 68,000 people from all over the world to gather at the sold out festival.       Fun in the desert: The Black Rock Desert is 120 miles north of Reno and the gathering is the largest permitted event on federal land in the United States Party town: The festival, which has become a haven for hippies, artists, musicians and dancers, provides a week for people to explore artistic expression. No money is exchanged at the event; instead the festival-goers swap gifts to attain goods It has become a haven for hippies, artists, musicians and dancers and provides a week for people to explore artistic expression. No money is exchanged at the event; instead the festival-goers swap gifts to attain goods. The Black Rock Desert is 120 miles north of Reno and the gathering is the largest permitted event on federal land in the United States. After it moved from San Francisco's Baker Beach, the inaugural Burning Man in Nevada drew some 80 people in 1990. The first 1,000-plus crowd was in 1993, and attendance doubled each of the next three years before reaching 23,000 in 1999. The crowd was capped at 50,000 under a five-year permit that expired in 2010. The new multi-year permit allows a maximum crowd of 70,000, but organizers applied for a cap of 68,000 this year. As always, festival goers are expected to obey the ten principles: Radical Inclusion, Gifting, Decommodification, Radical Self-reliance, Radical Self-expression, Communal Effort, Civic Responsibility, Leaving No Trace, Participation and Immediacy are of the utmost importance to the community. Described as an ‘experimental community,’ it incorporates plenty of partying plus themes and costumes, lighting massive fire displays, donning eye-catching costumes and performing passionate dances at sunrise. although organizers stress it's mostly up to participants to decide what Burning Man is As always, festival goers are expected to obey the ten principles: Radical Inclusion, Gifting, Decommodification, Radical Self-reliance, Radical Self-expression, Communal Effort, Civic Responsibility, Leaving No Trace, Participation and Immediacy are of the utmost importance to the community A participant looks at art works at sunrise in the Black Rock desert of Nevada A participant bicycles past art works at sunrise Participants watch the sunrise from the top of a dome: 68,000 people from all over the world have gathered at the sold out festival, which is celebrating its 27th year, to spend a week in the remote desert cut off from much of the outside world to experience art, music and the unique community that develops A sculpture of a fire breathing dragon as seen at sunrise during the 2013 Burning Man arts and music festival in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada

The sun sets during the Burning Man 2012 "Fertility 2.0" arts and music festival in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada, on August 29, 2012. More than 50,000 people from all over the world gathered at the sold out festival, which is celebrating its 26th year, to spend a week in the remote desert cut off from much of the outside world to experience art, music and the unique community that develops. (Reuters/Jim Urquhart)

 

The annual event now known as Burning Man began as a bonfire ritual on the summer solstice in 1986 when Larry Harvey, Jerry James, and a few friends met on Baker Beach in San Francisco and burned a 9-foot^[ (2.7-meter) wooden man as well as a smaller wooden dog. Harvey has described his inspiration for burning these effigies as a spontaneous act of "radical self-expression".^[8] The event did have earlier roots, though. Sculptor Mary Grauberger, a friend of Harvey's girlfriend Janet Lohr, held solstice bonfire gatherings on Baker Beach for several years prior to 1986, some of which Harvey attended. When Grauberger stopped organizing it, Harvey "picked up the torch and ran with it,"^[8] so to speak. He and Jerry James built an 8-foot (2.4-meter) wooden effigy for 1986, which was much smaller and more crudely made than the neon-lit figure featured in the current ritual. In 1987, the effigy grew to almost 15 feet (4.6 meters) tall, and by 1988, it had grown to around 40 feet (12 meters). Burning Man attendees informally called it "The Man," and this name was given to each successive effigy, every year since Burning Man began.

Harvey states that he did not see the movie The Wicker Man until many years later, so it played no part in his inspiration. Accordingly, rather than allow the name "Wicker Man" to become the name of the ritual, he started using the name "Burning Man".

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Bingram Lai explores "Zonotopia and the Two Trees" during Burning Man 2012, on August 29, 2012. (Reuters/Jim Urquhart) #

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An aerial view of Black Rock City, the Burning Man 2012 campground in the Black Rock Desert, on August 30, 2012. (Reuters/Jim Urquhart) #

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An aerial view shows the center of Black Rock City during Burning Man 2012, on August 30, 2012. (Reuters/Jim Urquhart) #

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Mountain Spirit (left) and Shooting Star, their Playa names, dance in the desert during Burning Man 2012, on September 1, 2012. (Reuters/Jim Urquhart (Reuters/Jim Urquhart) #

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The Samurais dance at sunrise in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada, on August 31, 2012. (Reuters/Jim Urquhart) #

Steven Babson (left) and Lila Wright sit at the Temple of Juno at sunrise, on August 29, 2012. (Reuters/Jim Urquhart)

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The Temple of Juno, at sunrise during Burning Man 2012, on August 29, 2012. (Reuters/Jim Urquhart) #

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Libriel Padilla watches the sunrise as it is obscured by smoke from a distant wildfire during Burning Man 2012, on August 29, 2012. (Reuters/Jim Urquhart) #

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A 50-foot tall wooden art installation "Anubis" burns on the Playa during Burning Man 2012, on August 31, 2012. (Reuters/Jim Urquhart) #

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Sophie Keel (left) and Emilyne Love dance around the burned remains of the Anubis art installation, on August 31, 2012. (Reuters/Jim Urquhart) #

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Participants watch the flames from "El Pulpo Mecanico" during Burning Man 2012, on August 29, 2012. (Reuters/Jim Urquhart) #

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Eric Yttri plays a flaming tuba in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada, on August 30, 2012. (Reuters/Jim Urquhart) #

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An art installation titled "La Llorona" part of the Burning Man 2012 "Fertility 2.0" arts and music festival, on August 31, 2012. (Reuters/Jim Urquhart) #

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Performance artist Jovis makes his way through Center Camp, on September 1, 2012. (Reuters/Jim Urquhart) #

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People gather at sunrise at the Temple of Juno before it is burned, in the Black Rock Desert, on September 2, 2012. (Reuters/Jim Urquhart) #

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Ruth Kidd explores the art piece "Ego" before sunrise, on August 29, 2012. (Reuters/Jim Urquhart) #

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Hallie McConlogue stays cool, partially submerged in a fishbowl helmet, during Burning Man 2012, on August 31, 2012. (Reuters/Jim Urquhart) #

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Mementos and messages are left on the Temple of Juno before it is burned, on September 2, 2012. (Reuters/Jim Urquhart) #

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Art car "The Sperminator" cruises the Playa, on August 31, 2012. (Reuters/Jim Urquhart) #

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Two men bare-knuckle fight in the Thunder Dome during Burning Man 2012, on August 31, 2012. (Reuters/Jim Urquhart) #

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People explore an art installation in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada, on September 2, 2012. (Reuters/Jim Urquhart) #

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Zane Salzetti (left) kisses Memory Collins while artwork that is part of the Circle of Regional Effigies is burned, on August 30, 2012. (Reuters/Jim Urquhart) #

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Participants watch as artwork that is part of the Circle of Regional Effigies burns during Burning Man 2012, on August 30, 2012. (Reuters/Jim Urquhart) #

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Kitten, her Playa name, watches part of the Circle of Regional Effigies burn, on August 30, 2012. (Reuters/Jim Urquhart) #

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The art installation "Star Seed", during Burning Man 2012, on September 2, 2012. (Reuters/Jim Urquhart) #

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Rainbow Fish (left) and Ambidrextrous, their Playa names, enjoy a bottle of wine and a kiss at sunrise in the Black Rock Desert, on August 31, 2012. (Reuters/Jim Urquhart) #

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Ciberfy, his Playa name, dances at sunrise in the Black Rock Desert, on August 31, 2012. (Reuters/Jim Urquhart) #

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An art installation on the Playa, at sunrise, on August 31, 2012. (Reuters/Jim Urquhart) #

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A man with the Playa name "Shaft" rides his bicycle in the Unicorn Stampede, on August 29, 2012. (Reuters/Jim Urquhart) #

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A skydiver descends to the Playa during Burning Man 2012, on August 29, 2012. (Reuters/Jim Urquhart) #

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"Nick", his Playa name, rides across the desert, on August 29, 2012. (Reuters/Jim Urquhart) #

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Flames shoot from an art car during Burning Man 2012, on September 1, 2012. (Reuters/Jim Urquhart) #

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A multi-building art installation titled "Burn Wall Street", in the Black Rock Desert, on September 2, 2012. (Reuters/Jim Urquhart) #

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The Temple of Juno goes up in flames, on September 2, 2012. (Reuters/Jim Urquhart) #

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Ingelise Titheradge cries as the Temple of Juno burns, on September 2, 2012. (Reuters/Jim Urquhart) #

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The Man is engulfed in flames during Burning Man 2012, on September 1, 2012. (Reuters/Jim Urquhart) #

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Fireworks go off as The Man is burned in the Black Rock Desert, on September 1, 2012. (Reuters/Jim Urquhart) #

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A man jumps over the burning remains of the wall of the Temple of Juno during Burning Man 2012, on September 2, 2012. (Reuters/Jim Urquhart) #

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Two people pull their suitcases through the sand as they make their way home, after the conclusion of Burning Man 2012, on September 2, 2012. (Reuters/Jim Urquhart)

The Masks We Wear We wear masks for many reasons: for fun, for protection, or to make a statement. In turbulent public settings, obscuring one's face can protect an individual from retaliation while evoking fear and uncertainty in others. Donning the mask of a cultural, political, or religious figure can lend that person power and further his or her legacy. Those who wear masks to protect their faces from environmental hazards may also end up sending a message of caution to outside observers. In many cases, though, masks play a more lighthearted role, allowing the wearer to take part in a festival and become someone (or something) else for a time. I've gathered here a few recent images of people wearing masks, covering their faces for a wide variety of reasons. [36 photos] Use j/k keys or ←/→ to navigate Choose: 1024px 1280px Vanessa Palsenbarg, Corporate Communications Specialist at Belgian company Materialise, shows a 3D model called Burn Mask, a customized mask for facial scar management at the company's headquarters in Leuven, on January 24, 2013. (Reuters/Yves Herman) 2 A man dressed in traditional Perchten mask performs during a Perchten festival in the western Austrian village of Heitwerwang, some 90 km (56 miles) west of Innsbruck, Austria, on November 23, 2012. Each year in November and January people dress-up in Perchten (also known in some regions as Krampus or Tuifl) costumes and parade through the streets to perform a 1,500 year-old pagan ritual to disperse the ghosts of winter. About 15 hours are needed for a woodcarver to sculpt each demon mask which is made from stone pine wood with goat horns attached. (Reuters/Dominic Ebenbichler) # 3 Parishioners wear typical dresses of "El Gueguense", a folkloric satirical drama which combines music, dance and theater, as they take part in the festivities in honor to Saint Sebastian, in Diriamba, about 42 km south of Managua, Nicaragua, on January 19, 2013.(Hector Retamal/AFP/Getty Images) # 4 A Bahraini boy takes part in a demonstration against the killing of a Shiite protester during clashes with Bahraini police, on February 22, 2013 in the village of Daih, West of the capital Manama. (Mohammed Al-Shaikh/AFP/Getty Images) # 5 Costumed devils, part of the Dominican Republic's Carnival. (Dominican Republic Ministry of Tourism) # 6 A half-naked participant wears a gas mask as he takes part in the second "Guangzhu (naked) Run" on a winter morning at the Olympic Forest Park in Beijing, on February 24, 2013. About 100 people joined this event, which required them to run wearing only their underwear for 3.5 km (2.2 miles), as a way to promote environmentally-friendly lifestyles. (Reuters/China Daily) # 7 A masked armed man checks the identity of a driver at a roadblock at the entrance to the town of El Pericon, near Ayutla, Mexico, on January 18, 2013. Hundreds of men in the southern Mexico state of Guerrero have taken up arms to defend their villages against drug gangs, a vigilante movement born of frustration at extortion, killings and kidnappings that local police are unable, or unwilling, to stop.(AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills) # 8 A member of a U.S. Army Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) team patrols a patch of farm land during a mission near Command Outpost AJK (short for Azim-Jan-Kariz, a near-by village) in Maiwand District, Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, on January 30, 2013.(Reuters/Andrew Burton) # 9 A man wearing a mask runs into English Bay during the annual New Year's Day Polar Bear Swim in Vancouver, British Columbia, on January 1, 2013. (Reuters/Ben Nelms) # 10 Protestors wear orange prison jumpsuits and black hoods on their heads during protests against holding detainees at the military prison in Guantanamo Bay during a demonstration on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on January 8, 2013. (Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images) # 11 An ultra-orthodox Jewish boy wears a costume ahead of the Jewish holiday of Purim in Jerusalem's Mea Shearim neighborhood, on February 22, 2013. (Reuters/Amir Cohen) # 12 Marcel Schmelzer of German soccer team Borussia Dortmund wears a protective mask during a training session at La Rosaleda stadium in Malaga, southern Spain, on April 2, 2013. (Reuters/Jon Nazca) # 13 A penitent in a costume made of candy wrappers takes part in a procession for the Moriones Festival during Holy Week in Mogpog town on Marinduque island, central Philippines, on March 27, 2013. During the festival, masked and costumed penitents called "Moriones" dress in attire that is the local interpretation of what Roman soldiers wore during biblical times. (Reuters/Erik De Castro) # 14 A masked looter walks leaves a supermarket in the Argentine city of San Carlos de Bariloche, on December 20, 2012. About 150 masked people looted a supermarket after breaking its windows, gates and perimeter surrounding the area, according to local media. The looters stoned the police who retaliated with tear gas. (Reuters/Chiwi Giambirtone) # 15 Aly Ilyadias helps Will Patriquin with his costume, both of them dressed as characters from the video game BioShock, at the PAX East gaming convention in Boston, Massachusetts, on March 23, 2013. (Reuters/Jessica Rinaldi) # 16 An Afghan woman receives winter supplies at a UNHCR distribution center for needy refugees at the Women's Garden in Kabul, Afghanistan, on January 2, 2013. (Shah Marai/AFP/Getty Images) # 17 A boy poses for a picture with people wearing costumes of famous sci-fi movies during the Canaan fair which is part of the Holy Week celebrations in Ayacucho, Peru, on March 28, 2013. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd) # 18 Mexican luchador / professional wrestler Blue Demon Jr. arrives at the 25th Anniversary Of Univision's "Premio Lo Nuestro A La Musica Latina" on February 21, 2013 in Miami, Florida. (Gustavo Caballero/Getty Images for Univision) # 19 Workers wearing protective suits and masks exit a fallout shelter during a nuclear accident simulation as part of a safety regulations exercise at Nuclear Power Plant Dukovany in Dukovany, Czech Republic, on March 26, 2013. (Reuters/David W Cerny) # 20 A model presents a creation for Hempel Award 21st China International Young Fashion Designers Contest, at China Fashion Week in Beijing, on March 25, 2013. (Reuters/Jason Lee) # 21 A masked reveller poses in Saint Mark's Square during the Venetian Carnival in Venice, on February 3, 2013.(Reuters/ Manuel Silvestri) # 22 An Israeli soldier instructs children on how to wear a gas mask during an emergency drill simulating a rocket attack in the central town of Kiryat Malachi, on February 14, 2013. (David Buimovitch/AFP/Getty Images) # 23 Revolutionary activist Mohammed Magdy and his bride, wear masks against tear gas and jointly hold a used tear gas container, celebrating their wedding in Revolution Square, the center of weeks of anti-government clashes, in the Nile Delta city of Mansoura, Egypt, on March 4, 2013. Protesters in Mansoura, and other Egyptian cities have been calling for civil disobedience campaigns, or work stoppages, to bring down President Mohammed Morsi who they accuse along with the Muslim Brotherhood of trying to monopolize power and of reneging on promises of reform. (AP Photo) # 24 Carnival revelers dressed as "Peliqueiros" run through a street in Spain's northwestern village of Laza, on February 10, 2013. "Peliqueiros" or ancient tax collectors, pursued villagers through the streets ringing their cowbells and hitting villagers with their sticks.(Reuters/Miguel Vidal) # 25 Protesters wearing masks perform during anti-austerity and anti-graft protests in Ljubljana, Slovenia, on January 11, 2013. More than 5,000 Slovenians gathered in the center of Ljubljana on Friday to protest against a corruption scandal that threatens to bring down the government. Slovenia's anti-corruption commission said earlier this week that Prime Minister Janez Jansa had been unable to explain the source of some of his income in recent years. (Reuters/Srdjan Zivulovic) # 26 A reveler wearing a demon costume takes part in the traditional festival of "Correfoc" in Palma de Mallorca, on January 21, 2013. Participants dress as demons and devils and move through the streets scaring people with fire and fireworks.(Jaime Reina/AFP/Getty Images) # 27 A woman tries on masks at a Spring Festival Temple Fair for celebrating Chinese Lunar New Year, on February 11, 2013 in Beijing, China.(Lintao Zhang/Getty Images) # 28 A soldier of the French foreign legion wearing a skeleton mask stands next to an armored vehicle in a street in Niono, Mali, on January 20, 2013. (Issouf Sanogo/AFP/Getty Images) # 29 An Indian schoolgirl wears a mask of Malala Yousufzai, a 15-year-old girl who was shot at close range in the head by a Taliban gunman in Pakistan, during a campaign to demand better budgetary allocation for health and education of Indian children in New Delhi, India, on February 2, 2013. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri) # 30 A man wearing a mask of Czech President Vaclav Klaus holds flowers during a march celebrating the end of his presidency, on March 7, 2013 at the Charles Bridge in Prague. (Michal Cizek/AFP/Getty Images) # 31 A penitent protects the flame of a candle during the Holy Week procession of the Cofradia Jesus Yacente on March 29, 2013 in Zamora, Spain. (Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images) # 32 An Egyptian boy wearing a Guy Fawkes Mask holds bread, a symbol of poverty, during an anti-Muslim Brotherhood demonstration in Cairo, Egypt, on March 22, 2013. Thousands of protesters from different areas of Cairo marched on Friday to express their rejection of the Muslim Brotherhood and President Mohammed Morsi's rule. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil) # 33 A man wearing a beer mug mask waits for the start of his cherry blossoms viewing party at Ueno Park in Tokyo, on March 26, 2013.(AP Photo/Koji Sasahara) # 34 A Ugandan soldier sits on top of his armored vehicle on the first day of an advance to oust militant group Al Shabab from several towns in the Lower Shabelle region of Somalia, on February 12, 2013. (Reuters/AU-UN IST PHOTO/Tobin Jones) # 35 A Chinese woman covers her head with a scarf and face with a mask, as she makes walks near Tiananmen Square in Beijing, on March 9, 2013. (Wang Zhao/AFP/Getty Images) # 36 A Bulgarian Kukeri dancer carries her mask as she performs a ritual in the town of Batanovtsi, on January 13, 2013. Kukeri is a pagan Bulgarian ritual of Thracian origins, performed between Christmas and Lent by costumed men in sheepskin garments, bells and masks, who walk around and dance to scare away the evil spirits, in hope to provide a good harvest, health, fertility, and happiness.(AP Photo/Valentina Petrova)

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