‘Almost everyone has an emotional story or memory connected to beauty.’
In this interview, The Wellcome Collection’s Janice Li uncovers the thought provoking journey through her recent exhibition ‘The Cult of Beauty’
In October 2023, the Wellcome Collection presented its anticipated ‘The Cult of Beauty’ exhibition. With over 200 objects and artworks, the show spans different decades and cultures to trace shifting ideas of beauty. Running until 28 April, it approaches of race, sexuality, disability and technology, ‘The Cult of Beauty’ challenges visitors to rethink beauty as they know it.
Curator of the Wellcome Collection, Janice Li, was crucial in the process of researching and curating the new exhibition. She sat down with the British Beauty Council to speak about the behind-the-scenes of ‘The Cult of the Beauty,’ and how it led her to important reflections about the role of beauty in everyday life.
Which area of beauty were you most fascinated by when putting together exhibition?
I’ve learnt so much […] but the most interesting thing was the emotive power of beauty. As much as people want to be critical about it, if you ask the right questions, almost everyone has an emotional story or memory connected to beauty. It’s so powerful. That’s why ‘The Cult of Beauty’ explores intergenerational relationships, friendships, community, all through beauty.
Why is the exhibition taking place at the Wellcome Collection?
We specialise in creating thematic exhibitions exploring different topics related to being alive, and beauty is one intrinsic part of being human. We’ve explored other topics like milk, nature, the concept of play… we explore beauty in a similar way, as it is another essential part of life.
You explore how notions of beauty have changed due to social media, why is this so important to consider now?
The show was originally scheduled to take place a few years ago. I think it would have been a very different exhibition then because the digital landscape of our lives has changed so much over the last couple of years. With the boom of social media platforms like TikTok coinciding with the lockdown experience, we are at an interesting time where the relationship between beauty and digital manipulation is at a fever pitch.
The exhibition highlights beauty’s intrinsic link to misogyny. How far do you think we have to go for beauty to be removed from this thinking?
I hope that it will happen soon. Curating ‘The Cult of Beauty’ has been an empowering process for me, because now I have the knowledge, the case studies and the facts to have informed discussions surrounding stereotypes. Hopefully, by visiting the exhibition people will also be armed with facts, so subjective debates will become informed conversations and the consensus will come.
You successfully depict diverse body image representation and how they change. Why was it important to represent this morphing body image?
We are all born with different genetics, we have different conditions, and these genes express on our skin and body in different ways. On top of this, we all go through accidents, illnesses, voluntary or involuntary body modifications, and our bodies change in ways that we could never imagine in our lifetime.
That’s why the body morphs throughout [the exhibition]. It’s a reminder that our bodies are so transient and the work poetically brings out the beauty of this.
It really feels like beauty is having a moment, why do you think this is?
I think it’s a combination of three things. The post-pandemic heightened awareness of self care – the process of adorning yourself makes people feel good.
Secondly, digital culture; through the medium of the screen, your facial beauty or bodily beauty has become the most common way to communicate yourself. It plays such a big part in how much emphasis people place on their appearances now.
Also the industry… I can see how many brands are growing, the number of issues the industry is trying to address, and the continuous innovation! There’s so many initiatives driven towards creating a better future within the beauty sector, which is really encouraging.
You can find out more about ‘The Cult of Beauty’ here.
