The Corneous Stories project includes an exhibition, discursive programme, art education and a publication. It offers a platform for presentations and encounters within the transdisciplinary research of historical and societal perspectives on the material culture of cosmetics. Developed by differently organized individuals and groups – artists, researchers, art educators and students –, Corneous Stories look at history through the skin, nails and hair, asking “What do we see if we look at history and society through cosmetics and the labour of beauty?”

Revealing surprising links between different sectors of the economy (chemical, car and film industry), work regimes (service, but also forced- and migrant labour, as well as beauty labour), mobility, modernity and identity violence and how they intersect in the material culture of cosmetics and visual culture, Corneous Stories want to trigger reconsiderations of the ways of contemporary subjectivation and governance.

Exhibiting: Dovilė Aleksaitė, Milijana Babić, Mareike Bernien and Kerstin Schroedinger, Kim Bode, Centre for Women’s Studies at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Rijeka, Lea Culetto, Lenka Đorojević, Anna Ehrenstein, Jinran Ha, Johanna Käthe Michel, Selma Selman

Curated by Katja Kobolt.

The exhibition (visual parlour) features the discursive parlour with Suza Husse, Ayşe Güleç, Katja Kobolt (N*A*I*L*S hacks*facts*fictions), Milijana Babić and Ana Ajduković, Petja Grafenauer with the participants of the crossdisciplinary student research project (Jerneja Erhatič, Rebeka Hvala, Jaka Juhant, Petra Lapajne, Ana Obid, Zdenka Pandžić, Neja Rakušček, Lucija Šerak, Iza Štrumbelj Oblak) publication authors (Brigita Miloš, Svetlana Slapšak) and the exhibiting artists.

The exibition also features the art education parlour with Kim Bode, Anna Ehrenstein, Johanna Käthe Michel and Katja Kobolt (N*A*I*L*S hacks*facts*fictions), Lea Culetto, Nevena Aleksovski, Sara Fabjan, Tea Hvala and Sara Šabec.

Artistic direction: Katja Kobolt (N*A*I*L*S hacks*facts*fictions), Teja Reba, Uwe Reissig, Urban Šrimpf, Katja Bradač and Petja Grafenauer; exhibition design advisor: Lenka Đorojević; production and coordination: Eva Prodan; organized by: City of Women, in the framework of European project BE PART, supported by the Creative Europe Programme. Partners: City of Women, Goethe-Institut Ljubljana, District Berlin, Škuc Gallery, Academy of Fine Arts and Design – University of Ljubljana. Supported by: European Social Fund (Corneous Stories publication), Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Education, Science and Sport – Public Scholarship, Development, Disability and Maintenance Fund (ŠIPK student research project “Project Work with the Non-Economic and Non-Profit Sector – Students Innovative Projects for the Benefit of Society 2019/2020”), Ministry of Public Administration, City of Ljubljana, Goethe-Institut Ljubljana.