31. October 2019 - 29. November 2020
23.00

Corneous Stories


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).

xx Corneous Stories: Cosmetics in Society and Time publication 

Co-created by:


  • Curatorial coordinator of the project: Katja Kobolt;


  • Collaborating curatorial board: Teja Reba (City of Women); Uwe Reißig, Urban Šrimpf, Katja Bradač (Goethe-Institut Ljubljana); n*a*i*l*s hack facts fiction (District Berlin);


  • Collaborating artists and researchers: Dovilė Aleksaitė, Marieke Bernien and Kerstin Schroedinger, Kim Bode, Anna Ehrenstein, Ayşe Güleç, Jinran Ha, Suza Husse, Johanna Käthe Michel (art collective n*a*i*l*s); Milijana Babić together with Ana Ajduković, Brigita Miloš (3. Smjena), Lea Culleto, Lenka Đorojević, Selma Selman;


  • Collaborating students of the University of Ljubljana: Jerneja Erhatič, Rebeka Hvala, Jaka Juhant, Petra Lapajne, Ana Obid, Iza Štrumbelj Oblak, Zdenka Pandžić, Neja Rakušček, Lucija Šerak;


  • Collaborating professor and co-mentor: doc. dr. Petja Grafenauer (University of Ljubljana, Academy of Fine Arts and Design); 


  • Contributors to the publication: dr. Katja Kobolt, dr. sc. Brigita Miloš (University of Rijeka, Faculty of Philosophy), dr. Svetlana Slapšak;


  • Producer: Eva Prodan (City of Women).

Co-produced by: City of Women, Goethe Institute - Slovenia, University of Ljubljana - The Academy of Fine Arts and Design, Škuc Gallery, District Berlin.

Co-funded by: Creative Europe, European social Fund, Republic of Slovenia - Ministry of Culture, Ministry of education, science and sport (Public Scholarship, Development, Disability and Maintenance Fund), Ministry of Public Administration, City of Ljubljana.