Beholding Beauty begins in the Horn of Africa, the cradle of mankind, showcasing and documenting the history and significance behind the Horn’s ancient beautification and adornment rituals. With spectacular photographs, this historic volume provides insightful portraits of the Horn’s women, guardians of ancient wisdom, and captures every intricate detail and fine nuance of their arts of beauty and wellbeing, set against a vivid backdrop of some of the region’s most archaic and pristine landscapes.

Peter Schoenborn is an independent scholar, writer and explorer who 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 as well as 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.