Unbinding bodies exhibition

Book design for the exhibition “UnBinding Bodies – Lotos Shoes and Corset” starting from 09.09.2022–26.02.2023 – in MARKK Museum Hamburg and from 23.03.2023–31.08.2023 in Tieranatomisches Theater of Humbold University Berlin.

Until the 20th century, Chinese girls had their feet bound to keep them as small as possible – a practice that was associated with pain, but also with recognition and hope for social advancement. External observers looked at these women with disgust, pity, and exotic fascination, but at the same time there were always comparisons with their own fashions, especially high heels and corsets. The contributors approach the practice of foot binding from cultural studies, social anthropology, and (medical) history perspectives. They take the agency of women seriously and ask about the interactions of self-perceptions and perceptions of others.

You can read the open access version of the book here.

Work: Book Design 2023
Editors: Evke Rulffes, Jasmin Mersmann
Client: Humbold University Berlin
Publisher: transcript verlag, 2023