UNRULY MIRRORS explores beauty salons across East and Central Asia as spaces of contradiction—sites where normative ideals are reproduced, but also where intimacy, appropriation, and subtle forms of resistance take shape. 

Beauty practices are never neutral. They reflect social norms, economic pressures, and cultural narratives, and are deeply entangled with phenotypical stereotypes, traditional gender roles, and socio-economic structures. They shape not only how we see ourselves, but also our access to participation in society and our sense of agency.

The Goethe-Institutes in Almaty, Hongkong, Peking, Seoul, Taschkent, Tokio and Ulaanbaatar ask:
What happens when we make these norms visible and subject them to transcultural and feminist critique? How might aesthetic practices be reimagined as forms of self-determination?

Open Call

In summer 2026, we invite artists to submit works or project proposals engaging with these questions.

An international jury will select seven contributions—one from each location. The chosen projects will receive funding and be presented in a shared traveling exhibition starting in spring 2027.

Local curators will accompany each project, facilitating exchange between artists, audiences, and institutions.

Public Program

The exhibition will be accompanied by locally curated programs, including:

• Talks & workshops
• Film screenings & readings
• Performances
• Pop-up beauty salons

These formats open up space for alternative narratives and invite active engagement.

Publication & Future Plans

An exhibition catalogue will be developed in collaboration with Missy Magazine, the Berlin-based bimonthly print publication dedicated to pop culture, politics, and feminism. The project will continue in Germany at the end of 2027 in cooperation with Grand Beauty, a Leipzig-based, award-winning transcultural initiative for beauty, diversity, and dialogue that brings together beauty practitioners with and without migration backgrounds.