Evanesce: Portraits of Female Allure

Mostra fotografica, presentazione del progetto di ricerca delle tradizioni antiche della salute, benessere e bellezza: ‘Evanesce: Portraits of Female Allure’ di Peter Schoenborn.

Comunicato stampa

EVANESCE
Portraits of Female Allure
Part of the ‘Beholding Beauty’ book series

SACI GALLERY
Via Sant’Antonino, 11
Florence
Lecture and Photography Exhibition Opening: May 21, from 6pm
On view through: May 21 – June 16, 2019

Peter Schoenborn’s body of work spans continents, vanishing cultures and the archaic traditions of health, wellbeing and beauty. His subjects are the keepers of knowledge—indigenous women who inhabit ancient crossroads and represent unique visions of life itself. As mothers, daughters and sisters, they are the true representatives of Mother Earth with all of her nurturing and fertile powers.

Having travelled extensively for decades to regions home to fascinating beauty rites that have survived for thousands of years, and as one of the privileged few to have been granted unprecedented access to closely guarded ceremonies, Peter Schoenborn has produced a series of striking and colourful photographic portraits that transcend language, and cultural and national barriers. ‘Evanesce: Portraits of Female Allure’ reveals the remarkable diversity of the faces of these distinct cultures while also highlighting and decoding the intricate detail and fine nuances in the arts of indigenous wellbeing and adornment.

Moving beyond previous ethnographic projects that very often present a fictionalised and damaging representation of indigenous cultures, Peter Schoenborn’s dynamic images are born from a deeply respectful relationship with these peoples and express his long-held commitment to representing indigenous women in their authentic environments while also paying homage to their intellectual wealth and remarkable wisdom.

Celebrating humanity’s greatest legacy—diversity, ‘Evanesce: Portraits of Female Allure’ also aims to preserve the life-sustaining traditions, plants and the sacred rituals of cosmetics and adornment that are being lost and forgotten. With the onslaught of an increasingly homogenised world, ancient traditions and other fascinating codes of communication used by indigenous cultures around the globe are fast fading away as is also the authentic appreciation of female beauty.

Taking readers on a global treasure hunt to seek the origins and secrets of beauty and adornment, the Beholding Beauty book series descend into the realm of myths and legends to unravel the deeper meanings and functions behind indigenous cosmetic rituals and the plants intrinsic to their use.

Alongside two other vital programs; Global Gardens (an initiative aimed at planting and protecting medicinal and aromatic plants) and Kanon Kosmetika (an encyclopaedic inventory of plant recipes, listing their active ingredients, origins, uses as well as their applications in health care and cosmetics recipes), Beholding Beauty operates within Amonbê, a non-profit organisation based in Monaco. Dedicated to the study of ancient arts of wellbeing and the preservation of medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs) in their natural habitat, Amonbê aims to safeguard medicinal and aromatic plants for future generations while bridging old wisdom with modern principles. It is ultimately about fusing conscience and science.