Winging it: Paris gallery keeps visitors apart with extension hats

Artists wear colourful "deconfinement hats" made of paper mache and inspired by Song dynasty headwear, for social distancing, at 59 Rivoli gallery in Paris as it prepares a general reopening later in the week, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in France, June 3, 2020. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

An art gallery in Paris has sought inspiration in ancient China to help it enforce social distancing, by providing hats with winged extensions for visitors.

The colourful papier-mâché hats are modelled on headgear from the Song dynasty, which ruled China between 960 and 1279, with extensions just long enough to keep wearers the one metre (three feet) apart stipulated in France's COVID-19 regulations.

The first Song emperor is said to have ordered his officials to wear winged hats so that they could not gossip without being heard.

An artist wears a colourful "deconfinement hat" made of paper mache and inspired by Song dynasty headwear, for social distancing, at 59 Rivoli gallery in Paris as it prepares a general reopening later in the week, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in France, June 3, 2020. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

"Back in the day, these were worn to prevent public officials from whispering," Dominique Pouzol, who designed the hats for the 59 Rivoli gallery, told Reuters. "And so, there was already then this notion of social distancing."

Some of Pouzol's creations carry a political message too, painted in the colours of the rainbow is a nod to gay rights.

"The hats are to protect us from COVID-19," Pouzol said. "But I said to myself perhaps they can also shield us from ...human viciousness, from small-minded people."

Artists wear colourful "deconfinement hats" made of paper mache and inspired by Song dynasty headwear, for social distancing, at 59 Rivoli gallery in Paris as it prepares a general reopening later in the week, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in France, June 3, 2020. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

(Reporting by Ardee Napolitano; Writing by Richard Lough)

Artists wear colourful "deconfinement hats" made of paper mache and inspired by Song dynasty headwear, for social distancing, at 59 Rivoli gallery in Paris as it prepares a general reopening later in the week, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in France, June 3, 2020. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

Dominique Pouzol, artist and creator of "deconfinement hats" made of paper mache and inspired by Song dynasty headwear, for social distancing, poses at 59 Rivoli gallery in Paris as it prepares a general reopening later in the week, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in France, June 3, 2020. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

Artists wear colourful "deconfinement hats" made of paper mache and inspired by Song dynasty headwear, for social distancing, at 59 Rivoli gallery in Paris as it prepares a general reopening later in the week, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in France, June 3, 2020. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

An artist wears a colourful "deconfinement hat" made of paper mache and inspired by Song dynasty headwear, for social distancing, at 59 Rivoli gallery in Paris as it prepares a general reopening later in the week, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in France, June 3, 2020. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

Artists wear colourful "deconfinement hats" made of paper mache and inspired by Song dynasty headwear, for social distancing, at 59 Rivoli gallery in Paris as it prepares a general reopening later in the week, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in France, June 3, 2020. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

Gaspard Delanoe, 59 Rivoli gallery director, wearing a protective face mask, gestures with a colourful "deconfinement hat" made of paper mache and inspired by Song dynasty headwear, for social distancing, at the gallery in Paris as it prepares a general reopening later in the week, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in France, June 3, 2020. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier