When the (face)mask slips

In the context of COVID-19 pandemic, masks and act masking have become emotive subjects for social political debate. Brazil, one countries most severely affected by seemingly mundane mask-wearing has part a deep social, economic crisis at centre which is far-right president Jair Bolsonaro. this paper we explore politics (un)masking in Brazil from three vantage points mask serves to dramatise country’s current moment. Firstly, trace connections disjunctions between genealogies hygienist policies associated with modern aspirations Brazilian republic. Secondly, consider how are incorporated into everyday life city through popular economies, reveal potentialities limitations work beyond ideals waged labour. Finally, incorporation urban street-art. We approach graffiti murals as situated performances symbolic resistance that contest incoherences Bolsonaro’s anti-science discourse. tandem, these perspectives foreground practices expose long-standing tensions new contemporary challenges characterise ‘crisis society’.