Mask

The Occupy London movement grew out of an attempt to camp outside the London Stock Exchange in Paternoster Square on 15 October 2011. The protest was organised in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street protest in New York. After police cordoned off Paternoster Square, the protestors set up camp in tents outside St Paul's Cathedral. The protestors made common cause with the wave of pro-democracy demonstrations in Egypt and other countries known as the 'Arab Spring'. The camp remained outside St Paul's until it was evicted by the Corporation of London on 28 February 2012.

This mask was acquired by the Museum of London from the St Paul's camp in October 2011. The masks were inspired by that worn by the hero in the 1982 graphic novel V for Vendetta by Alan Moore and David Lloyd. They were worn at Occupy protests around the world. As Time Warner owns the rights to the graphic novel, members of the Anonymous group are believed to have had masks like this one specially made to prevent the corporation making a profit.