Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Save articles for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. Got it Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Some years ago, I had an Italian boyfriend who couldn’t stand to find a hair in the bed.
It struck me as bizarre: how can you object to something so inevitable? Hair is part of our lives, whether we’re trying to tame it, remove it, change it or hold on to it. It’s intimate, powerful and political. Across cultures, hair often represents strength, fertility and beauty.
It is also associated with the mystical. During the Inquisition, it was thought that women deemed to be witches could control the weather by unleashing their hair. In Nazi concentration camps, heads were shaved as part of a dehumanising process that stripped prisoners of their identity and culture.
But in some cultures, baldness is revered; Buddhist monks and nuns routinely shave their heads. A new show at Heide Museum of Modern Art takes an ambitious look at the complex significance of hair. Hair Pieces has been a long time coming, says senior curator Melissa Keys; it has been challenging to put together, in part because hair has these very dark associations – but it’s also playful and light.
Installation view, Hair Pieces at Heide. Credit: Clytie Meredith “It’s kind of nothing and everything at the same time,” Keys says. “It was a process of accepting that it’s actually important t.
