THE ETHNIC ORIGINS OF BEAUTY : Episode 1

«THE ETHNIC ORIGINS OF BEAUTY» is not only a series, it was initially the author's multimedia documentary and research project about the ethnic diversity of humanity through the beauty of women of peoples around the world that started in 2012 with a photo and video portrait collection and since 2025 as a documentary cycle.

OBJECTIVE : to demonstrate the real scale of ethno-cultural diversity, to illustrate each ethnic identity, portraits and stories of women living in the countries/ regions of their origin as well as in diasporas.

The project is based on ethnic groups, not on sovereign states, in order to illustrate the diversity of humanity that we do not see, focusing exclusively on the political map of the world. If we limit our attention only to the issue of citizenship, more than 90% of the existing people groups and cultures on Earth remain out of sight because they are not represented as independent countries.

METHOD:

- BEAUTY - as a way to reach the hearts of a wide international audience and speak about our differences in a positive and aesthetic way;

- WOMAN - as a diplomatic tool, building delicate bridges of empathy and solidarity between people, using a combination of qualities such as natural beauty, charm, intelligence, sincerity and compassion;

PURPOSE: to contribute to the dissemination of knowledge about existing peoples, harmonization, strengthening tolerance in inter-ethnic relations, fight against stereotypes through the search for beauty in each people group, equal attention to every ethnicity, respectful and curious attitude towards each other’s differences, promotion of intercultural dialogue.

The project ”THE ETHNIC ORIGINS OF BEAUTY” was selected in March 2014 for an exhibition at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris. The collection of portraits of the world’s ethnic groups and the videos of the project have proved to be interesting for scientific research in the field of ethnography, human history, genetics, aesthetic medicine, visual anthropology, social studies, etc. for different international institutions, universities and academic communities around the world. In 2025, the author of the project will present the video material accumulated since 2012 in a new format - as a documentary series.

The series is being realized through the main languages of international and inter-ethnic communication, such as English, French, Russian, Spanish, etc., covering the largest number of different peoples and cultures.