Masked Monkey

Animation showing chained macaque monkey wearing doll’s face as a mask. This was inspired by unsettling and deeply saddening photos of monkeys being forced to wear doll heads and performing for tourists in Indonesia.

In medieval manuscripts monkeys are often depicted as mimicking humans - dressed in human clothing and doing “human”, cultural activities, like reading or writing. 

The monkey character is kept captive and forced to wear a “human” mask, and laughed at. The monkey is humanised, then dehumanised and laughed at for her efforts.