Corneous Stories is an interdisciplinary and intergenerational artistic research project that asks the question “What do we see if we look at society and history through nail care and cosmetics?” 

Corneous Stories reveals surprising links between different work regimes, migrations, genders, social classes, identities and their aesthetic coding, as well as connections of the chemical, film, auto and war industries with forced labor, exoticism, marginalization and racism. Departing from an artistic research and art collective initiated in 2018 in Berlin (n * a * i * l * s hacks facts fictions), Corneous Stories opens up and further develops towards a sedimentary historical experience from the Southeast European perspective. 

At the intersection of methods of artistic research, artistic production and pedagogy, as well as humanities and social research approaches, the aim of Corneous Stories is to create through a collaborative and collective practice, different formats of participation, representation and transfer of knowledge. The project thus includes a fieldwork research phase led by Katja Kobolt, a four months transdisciplinary research with and by students of various faculties (in the frame of ŠIPK program), four creative workshops with highschool students, new local and international artistic productions, an international group exhibition with a discursive program and a collective publication. 

The project is being developed within the European project Be Part and will be presented to the public at the 26th International Festival of Contemporary Arts – City of Women (Ljubljana, October 2020).