Peter Schoenborn has spent the last two decades listening to women from indigenous societies around the globe and documenting their authentic interpretations of beauty and cosmetic rituals. Combining the studies of aesthetics, the practices of visual arts on the human body, and their myriad of cultural meanings, in 2000, Peter began Beholding Beauty to facilitate the dissemination of this indigenous expertise and know-how in the fields of wellbeing. Today, Peter’s vocation is to be of service to indigenous peoples around the globe and believes that by participating in the rescue of this fast-fading empirical wisdom, an essential part of our universal heritage can be preserved–not only for us today but also for future generations to come.
PETER SCHOENBORN IS AN INDEPENDENT SCHOLAR, WRITER AND EXPLORER, WHOSE APPROACH TO THE ARTS OF BEAUTIFICATION SYNTHESISES MANY DISCIPLINES, FOUNDED UPON A FRAMEWORK OF AESTHETIC ANTHROPOLOGY.
OUR MISSION
ARCHAIC WISDOM
To uncover the secrets of physical and mental wellbeing from the world’s indigenous women.
NATURAL COSMETICS
To document traditional ingredients and recipes from ancient and indigenous sources.
EXPRESSIVE ADORNMENT
To decode the deeper meanings and social functions of embellishments on the female form.
DIVINE PLANTS
To understand the power of medicinal and aromatic plants and their therapeutic significance.
Aesthetic Anthropology
Beholding Beauty sheds light into the enigma of female beauty and how indigenous aesthetic arts has served humanity for thousands of years. Beholding Beauty harvests this valuable knowledge by collecting and sharing the stories, cosmetic practices and plant-derived recipes that are fast becoming lost to us as many ancient societies become increasingly absorbed by Western uniformity, and as eco-diversity is threatened by monoculture. This not only means the loss of our collective cultural heritage but, crucially, humanity’s ‘survival kit’ of healing plants that contain beneficial properties vital to modern wellbeing. The inspiration for Beholding Beauty has been drawn from academics as well as shamans but above all from the women themselves. Above all, Beholding Beauty is a tribute to every woman on the planet, and a homage to Mother Earth herself.