Evke Rulffes: Eingeschnürt
Wie der weibliche Körper in Form gebracht wurde
Who decides what is beautiful?
On October 20 at 6 p.m., Evke Rulffes will present her new book Eingeschnürt. Wie der weibliche Körper in Form gebracht wurde at TA T. The book is based on research conducted for the exhibition unBinding Bodies, which she curated in 2022–23 together with Jasmin Mersmann and Felix Sattler and which was on view at the MARKK in Hamburg and at the TA T in Berlin.
The exhibition unBinding Bodies took as its starting point the Western perspective on the Han Chinese practice of foot-binding and how Western (German) anatomists dealt with severed feet around 1900; the curatorial team contrasted this with the Chinese perspective on the corset, explored social power dynamics and emancipation movements in both cultures, and drew a connection to today’s beauty standards. Evke Rulffes has explored these themes in greater depth in her cultural-historical non-fiction book and, by looking back at the past, asks just how deeply beauty standards remain rooted in our collective memory to this day.
Moderator: Felix Sattler
In collaboration with HarperCollins Germany
Related exhibitions and events
Easy Read Version
On 20 October at 6 pm, Evke Rulffes presents her new book at TA T.
The book is called
Eingeschnürt. Wie der weibliche Körper in Form gebracht wurde.
The book is based on research for the exhibition unBinding Bodies.
Evke Rulffes curated the exhibition together with Jasmin Mersmann and Felix Sattler.
The exhibition was shown in Hamburg and Berlin in 2022 and 2023.
What is the book about?
The exhibition looked at the practice of foot-binding in China.
It also looked at how German anatomists studied severed feet around 1900.
The exhibition showed another perspective too:
How people in China looked at the corset.
The exhibition explored:
- beauty standards
- social power
- movements for emancipation
- ideas about the body in China and Europe
Evke Rulffes explores these topics in more detail in her new book.
She looks at the history of beauty standards.
She also asks:
How much do ideas about beauty from the past still shape our ideas today?
Moderator: Felix Sattler
In collaboration with HarperCollins Germany