The story of human hair

Today I decided to get in touch with my sophisticated, cultural self and visited the Hong Kong Museum of Art. There was a special exhibition of hair (see picture below). The introduction to the exhibition indicates that there are always stories behind human hair – and I couldn’t agree with it more…

I remember the hairy Russian babushka I saw while walking down the street in Moscow; she had enough facial hair to knit a winter sweater! And I remember flying squirrel’s notorious (and provocative) claim that there was a link between hairiness (and the number of apocrine sweat glands) and ethnic groups. And I remember being laughed at because I am noticeably hairless – and I retorted that my scarcity of hair was due to natural evolution, in which I have evolved to adapt to the environment, far more advanced than the great ape families. In all cases, there are, indeed, lots of stories behind all sorts of human hairs…

Shoes made of hairs neatly arranged on the floor of the modern art section.