The origins of beauty. Project "national origins of beauty"

In the 13th century, the Mongol hordes invaded much of the known world, and in the following centuries Genghis Khan's nobles had a strong legacy to rule over China, Iran, and Central Asia. What about Mongolian soldiers and ordinary people in these areas? Were they assimilated or dissolved in any sense, or are the descendants of the Mongols still living in areas other than Mongols proper?

Answers

going

Wikipedia gives an excellent answer to Descendants of Genghis Khan.

Some of the highlights:

Another important consideration is that the descendants of Genghis often intermarried. For example, the Johids took wives from the Persian Ilkhan dynasty, whose progenitor was Hulagu Khan. As a consequence, it is likely that many Yoshids had other sons of Genghis Khan among their maternal ancestors.

Among the Asian dynasties descended from Genghis Khan were the Chinese Yuan dynasty, the Persian Ilkhanids, the golden hordes-Jokhids, the Siberian Sheibanids, and the Astrakhanids in Central Asia.

The ruling Wang clan of the Goryeo Dynasty of Korea became Chinggisid descendants as a result of the marriage between King Chungniol and the daughter of Kublai Khan. All subsequent rulers of Korea over the next 80 years, through King Gongmin, were descendants of Genghis Khan.

After the Mongol invasion of Russia, the rulers of the Russian Rurik principalities sought to gain political advantages for themselves and their countries by marrying into the House of Genghis Khan.

Therefore, it is not surprising that from Nurhachi to Emperor Shunzhi, all empresses and chief concubines were Mongols.

It has been stated and researched () that:

8% of all Asian males and therefore 0.5% of all males will be descendants of Genghis Khan.

Rose Ames

An interesting note: Down syndrome used to be called Mongolism because people thought that children suffering from it were setbacks - that one of the parents' 13th-century ancestors had been raped by a Mongol soldier.

user4951

Saying that someone is a descendant is not a problem. After all, if I am not childless, all people will also be my descendant. What is the proportion of the gengish khan gene compared to other genes.

Dol

The vast majority of Genghis Khan's Mongols were either expelled to Mongolia or absorbed into the Chinese population. Some modern Chinese retain their Mongolian heritage, as evidenced by the following language map of the Mongolian languages:

Some of the Mongolian populations include: Bonan, Mongur, Dongxiang, Yugur, Sogwo Arig, Sichuan Mongols, Yunnan Mongols. Thanks to Dagvadorj for correcting me and pointing this out.

Dagvadorj

I think your college course has made a generalization in this matter. There are Mongolian-speaking Muslim and Taoist ethnic groups in China, who are the descendants of the soldiers of Genghis Khan. I think they weren't worth noting in the course. These people are called Bonan, Mongur, Dongxiang, Yugur, Sogwo Arig, Sichuan Mongols, Yunnan Mongols, ...

going

@JoeHobbit - Can you provide links to confirm what you claim is correct? Khan traveled long distances, and it is well known that the country still exists under the name of Mongolia. Your claim that they have just been absorbed into China is false.

Dol

@Dagvordorj I've never heard of those bands. How big are the surviving Genghis-Mongolian groups?

Dol

@xiaohouzi I paraphrased my history professor, Dr. David Greer (PhD). I never said that Mongolia ceased to exist. Rather, I said that the soldiers of Genghis Khan did not separate themselves from the peoples they conquered, and therefore gradually lost their identity as Mongols. Even Wikipedia says that they often got married.

Dagvadorj

@JoeHobbit Modern Mongols in Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, Kalmykia and Buryatia (living in Mongolia proper) are already Genghis Khan Mongols. Initially, the question is if they live outside of the Mongols: for example, Bonan, Mongur, Hazara, etc. You can find them on Google.

Tom Ay

The empire of Genghis Khan consisted of at least four main parts: (modern) Russia, the Middle East (main Persia), Central Asia (Kazakhstan) and China-Mongolia.

The soldiers who occupied the first three parts (mostly) married local women. In China-Mongolia (under Khan Kublai), many Mongols intermarried with the Chinese. Only a few Mongols (between present-day Mongolia and Lake Baikal) have remained relatively "pure", which is why there are so few of them today. The genes of others were in a different place.

Dagvadorj

The answer starts right. However, it contains some misleading information in the second paragraph. In fact, I remember there was a law that forbade Mongols from marrying Chinese in the Yuan Dynasty just like laws in the later Qing Dynasty that forbade Mongols and Manchus from marrying Chinese. This is how there are Mongols in Qinghai-Gansu and Yunnan-Sichuan who remained outside the Mongol population and returned to Mongol proper when the Yuan collapsed. Modern Mongols in Mongolia and Inner Mongolia do not originate from the Baikal region, but were there or resettled from the Yuan.

Tom Ay

@daagvadorj: That might have been true during the Yuan Dynasty. But after the Ming overthrew them, some Mongols "stayed" and married Chinese, while others went north (to present-day Mongolia) and remained relatively "clean". Probably SOME families of modern Mongols originated from Lake Baikal (before the time of Genghis Khan), then to China, and then back to modern Mongolia.

Guys, we put our soul into the site. Thanks for that
for discovering this beauty. Thanks for the inspiration and goosebumps.
Join us at Facebook and In contact with

Project "National Origins of Beauty"(The ethnic origins of beauty) is a non-commercial documentary and research project about the ethnic diversity of humanity. In order to reach the hearts of the widest international and multinational audience, the language of female beauty and charm was chosen.

The project started in 2012, but it is only at the initial stage of its implementation, there are still not many nationalities in the project's collection. To date, about 90 photo and video portraits of representatives of more than 50 ethnic groups from 15 countries on 4 continents have been shot. Each nationality (ethnos) will be represented in the project by three girls (three photo portraits and three video interviews) with an accompanying information note about the represented people.

The author of the project is Natalia Ivanova, a Russian photographer and photojournalist. Lives and works in Paris, is a special photojournalist for the ITAR-TASS agency in France. She considers it important to bring to life and convey to people the idea of ​​interethnic equality and tolerance, no matter how much time and effort it takes.

Editorial website convinced that beauty has no nationality and humanity is beautiful! Make sure you too.

Wolof- ethnic groups, mainly living in Senegal, in the Gambia. The total number is about 6 million people.

Martinicans- the main population of the island of Martinique. Number - 500 thousand people. They also live in France (150 thousand people), on the island of Guadeloupe and in the Virgin Islands (USA).

Congo- people in Central Africa numbering 10 million people. They inhabit the lower reaches of the Congo River, the border regions of Angola and the People's Republic of the Congo, live in Uganda, Gabon, Sao Tome and Principe. The Congo maintains a matrilineal kinship account.

Ewe inhabit the southeastern regions of Ghana, the southern regions of Togo and Benin. The number is about 4 million people.

Fulbe, or Fula, Fulani - a people living in a vast territory in West Africa: from Mauritania, Gambia, Senegal and Guinea in the west to Cameroon and even Sudan in the east. Number - 23-25 ​​million people.

Haitians- people in the West Indies, the main population of the Republic of Haiti. Only 7.2 million people.

"National origins of beauty" - a project about the beauty of the ethnic diversity of the world.
The main goal is to show all the diversity of existing peoples, which we do not see, focusing only on the political map of the world. There are over 2,000 ethnic groups in the world, while there are just over 200 countries, we do not see 90% of the ethno-cultural diversity that surrounds us, sometimes even within our own country.

Anya- people of West Africa, present in Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana. The number of Anya is about 1.25 million people. They were the first to make contact with Europeans in the 17th century.

Cape Verdians, Zelenomystsy, Kriolu - the main population of Cape Verde, the descendants of slaves who mixed with the Portuguese settlers. Number - 310 thousand people.

Guadelupe- people, the main population of Guadeloupe, number - 300 thousand people. They also live in France (100 thousand people).

reunioners- the population of Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean ("overseas department" of France). Number - 250 thousand people. About a quarter of the Reunion people are white - the descendants of the first French settlers.

Bengalis one of the most numerous nations in the world. The main population of Bangladesh and the state of West Bengal in India. The population is over 250 million people. They also live in Bhutan, Nepal, Singapore, Great Britain.

Indo-Mauritians- the main population of Mauritius. Descendants of immigrants from India. Number - 800 thousand people.

Unlike many projects that seek to nullify all kinds of differences between people, the National Origins of Beauty project, on the contrary, tries to draw attention to the beauty of the fact that in our world there are so many different “colors” and “shades” of cultures. Yes, we are all so different, and it's wonderful.

Schloch, or shilh - a Berber people living in the western part of the High Atlas mountain range and the Anti-Atlas mountain range in Morocco, in the valleys of the Tensift, Sousse rivers. The population is about 8 million.

Tunisians- one of the Arab peoples, the main population of the Tunisian Republic. Number - 10 million.

reefs- Berber people living in northern Morocco, on the northwestern strip of the mainland. The number is about 3 million people.

Kabyles- the people of the Berber group in northern Algeria. A significant part of the Kabyles live in exile, mainly in France. The total number is 6.5 million.

Armenians are the state-forming people of Armenia. Number - 8 million people.

Georgians(kartvelebi). Most of the Georgian nation is concentrated within the borders of Georgia. Also, many Georgians live in the eastern provinces of Turkey and in the interior of Iran. The population is about 6 million.

We introduce people to the peoples of the world through photo and video portraits of young, bright, interesting girls - representatives of these peoples. An important factor is the unmixed ethnic origin of these girls in at least three generations, as well as awareness of one's ethnicity.

A woman is the main carrier and keeper of the culture of her people, their language, traditions, since it is she who is engaged in the upbringing and initial education of children. A woman is the face of the nation, literally and figuratively.

Kalmyks- Western Mongolian people living mainly in the Republic of Kalmykia. The number in the world is about 200 thousand people.

Han ranks first in terms of numbers among the peoples of the Earth (19% of the population), is the largest nationality in China, Hong Kong and Macau, as well as in the Republic of China and Singapore. The population is 1.3 billion people.

Buryats- the indigenous population of Buryatia, Ust-Orda Buryat Autonomous Okrug, Aginsky Buryat Autonomous Okrug. Outside of Russia - in Northern Mongolia and in the northeast of China. The total number is 520 thousand people.

Uighurs- the indigenous people of East Turkestan, now the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China. Number - 11 million people.

Altaians, Oirots - the people of the Republic of Altai. Number - 71 thousand people.

Uzbeks- the main and indigenous population of Uzbekistan. A fairly large number of Uzbeks live in Afghanistan, Tajikistan, southern Kazakhstan, southern Kyrgyzstan, northern and eastern Turkmenistan. The population is about 29 million people.

How well we solve the task - to judge the public. We do not seek to show the "template" of the ideal representative. We need living, real stories.

Ossetians mainly live in the Caucasus, in Russia and Georgia. The total population is about 700 thousand people.

Bashkirs- Turkic-speaking people living on the territory of the Republic of Bashkortostan and the historical region of the same name. Indigenous people of the Southern Urals and the Urals. The number in the world is about 2 million people.

Kumyks- Turkic-speaking people, one of the indigenous peoples of Dagestan. Number - 505 thousand people. They live in the Republic of Dagestan, in North Ossetia, the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug and in Chechnya.

Kazakhs- Turkic people, the main population of Kazakhstan. Kazakhs have long lived in regions of China, Russia, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan adjacent to Kazakhstan, as well as in the west of Mongolia. Only 14.5 million people.

Chechens- North Caucasian people, the main population of Chechnya. Historically, they also live in the regions of Dagestan, Ingushetia, the Akhmeta region of Georgia. The total number of Chechens in the world is 1.55 million people.

Circassians- the indigenous population of Kabardino-Balkaria, Adygea, Karachay-Cherkessia and the Krasnodar Territory. The population is about 3 million.

The project is in the process of implementation. Applications are being accepted. We are looking for representatives of all nations of the world and we want to show all peoples (ethnic groups) without exception.

Candidates for participation in the project are young women from 18 to 30 years old with regular facial features, natural beauty and belonging to one nationality at least three generations. The selection of girls takes place first in absentia according to the letters of application received, then in person - according to the results of filming.

Abaza- one of the oldest indigenous peoples of the Caucasus. The number is about 45 thousand. They live in the Russian Federation, most compactly in Karachay-Cherkessia. The Abaza diaspora exists in Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Syria.

Ingush- Vainakh people in the North Caucasus. They speak the Ingush language, written in Cyrillic. The total number throughout the world is 700 thousand people.

Shugnans- one of the Pamir peoples in Tajikistan and in the north of Afghanistan. The largest in number of the Pamir peoples.

Germans. A huge number of Germans live outside of Germany. For example, in the United States, people of German descent outnumber people from England. The number in the world is about 140 million people.

French people are descendants of the Celtic peoples, currently a mixture of several ethnic groups. The number of the French is about 63 million people.

Lezgins(Lezgiar, Lekier) - one of the indigenous peoples of the Caucasus, historically living in the southern regions of modern Dagestan and in the north of Azerbaijan. Lezgins also live in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey. Number - 800 thousand people.

The project "National Origins of Beauty" was recognized by UNESCO and was first presented at the International Women's Day exhibition at the Paris headquarters of UNESCO in March 2014.

The purpose of the project is to contribute to harmonization, strengthening tolerance in interethnic relations through the search for beauty in every nation, through equal attention to each ethnicity, respect for each other's characteristics, stimulating intercultural dialogue.
Do contribution to the heritage of mankind by creating a universal multimedia and interactive collection
ethnic diversity of mankind for the period of the beginning of the XXI century.

Portuguese- people in the west of the Iberian Peninsula, the indigenous population of Portugal. Number - 31.2 million.

Lorraine- German people (almost completely assimilated with the French), living in the north-east of France on the border with Belgium and Germany, the main population of the French region of Lorraine. The number is about 1 million people.

Tatars- the main people of Tatarstan. They live in Russia, Bashkiria, Udmurtia, Mordovia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. The total population is 7 million people.

Belarusians- East Slavic ethnic group. The total number is about 9.4 million people. They live mainly on the territory of the Republic of Belarus. They also inhabit the territories of Russia, Poland, Ukraine, Latvia and Lithuania adjacent to Belarus.

Russians are one of the largest ethnic groups in the world. The vast majority of Russians live in Russia and about 18 million live in neighboring countries. 3 million live in America and Europe. The total number is 137 million people.

Finns- Finno-Ugric people, the main population of Finland. Finns also live in the USA, Canada, Russia, Australia. There are about 6.5 million people in the world.

The Ethnic Origins of Beauty project is a non-commercial art-documentary and research project about the ethnic diversity of humanity. In order to reach the hearts of the widest international and multinational audience, the language of female beauty and charm was chosen.
The project started in 2012, but it is only at the initial stage of its implementation, there are still not many nationalities in the project's collection. To date, about 90 photo and video portraits of representatives of more than 50 ethnic groups from 15 countries on 4 continents have been shot. Each nationality (ethnos) will be represented in the project by three girls (three photo portraits and three video interviews) with an accompanying information note about the represented people.
The author of the project is Natalia Ivanova, a Russian photographer and photojournalist. Lives and works in Paris, is a special photojournalist for the ITAR-TASS agency in France. She considers it important to bring to life and convey to people the idea of ​​interethnic equality and tolerance, no matter how much time and effort it takes.

The Wolof are an ethnic group mainly living in Senegal, in the Gambia. The total number is about 6 million people.
Martiniques are the main population of the island of Martinique. Number - 500 thousand people. They also live in France (150 thousand people), on the island of Guadeloupe and in the Virgin Islands (USA).
The Congo is a people in Central Africa numbering 10 million people. They inhabit the lower reaches of the Congo River, the border regions of Angola and the People's Republic of the Congo, live in Uganda, Gabon, Sao Tome and Principe. The Congo maintains a matrilineal kinship account.

Ewe inhabit the southeastern regions of Ghana, the southern regions of Togo and Benin. The number is about 4 million people.
Fulbe, or Fula, Fulani is a people living in a vast territory in West Africa: from Mauritania, Gambia, Senegal and Guinea in the west to Cameroon and even Sudan in the east. The number is 23-25 ​​million people.
Haitians are a people in the West Indies, the main population of the Republic of Haiti. Only 7.2 million people.
"National origins of beauty" is a project about the beauty of the ethnic diversity of the world.
The main goal is to show all the diversity of existing peoples, which we do not see, focusing only on the political map of the world. There are over 2,000 ethnic groups in the world, while there are just over 200 countries, we do not see 90% of the ethno-cultural diversity that surrounds us, sometimes even within our own country.

The Anyi are a West African people present in Ivory Coast, Ghana. The Anya population is about 1.25 million people. They were the first to make contact with Europeans in the 17th century.
Cape Verdians, Zelenomystsy, Kriolu - the main population of Cape Verde, the descendants of slaves who mixed with the Portuguese settlers. Number - 310 thousand people.
The Guadeloupes are a people, the main population of Guadeloupe, numbering 300 thousand people. They also live in France (100 thousand people).

Reunion - the population of the island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean ("overseas department" of France). Number - 250 thousand people. About a quarter of the Reunion people are whites - the descendants of the first French settlers.
Bengalis are one of the most numerous peoples in the world. The main population of Bangladesh and the state of West Bengal in India. The population is over 250 million people. They also live in Bhutan, Nepal, Singapore, Great Britain.
Indo-Mauritians are the main population of Mauritius. Descendants of immigrants from India. Number - 800 thousand people.
Unlike many projects that seek to nullify all kinds of differences between people, the National Origins of Beauty project, on the contrary, tries to draw attention to the beauty of the fact that in our world there are so many different “colors” and “shades” of cultures. Yes, we are all so different, and it's wonderful.

Shloh, or shilh - a Berber people living in the western part of the High Atlas mountain range and the Anti-Atlas mountain range in Morocco, in the valleys of the Tensift, Sousse rivers. The population is about 8 million.
Tunisians are one of the Arab peoples, the main population of the Tunisian Republic. The population is 10 million.
The Reefs are a Berber people living in northern Morocco, on the northwestern strip of the mainland. The number is about 3 million people.

The Kabiles are a group of Berbers in northern Algeria. A significant part of the Kabyles live in exile, mainly in France. The total number is 6.5 million.
Armenians are the state-forming people of Armenia. Number - 8 million people.
Georgians (kartvelebi). Most of the Georgian nation is concentrated within the borders of Georgia. Also, many Georgians live in the eastern provinces of Turkey and in the interior of Iran. The population is about 6 million.
We introduce people to the peoples of the world through photo and video portraits of young, bright, interesting girls - representatives of these peoples. An important factor is the unmixed ethnic origin of these girls in at least three generations, as well as awareness of their ethnicity.
A woman is the main carrier and keeper of the culture of her people, their language, traditions, since it is she who is engaged in the upbringing and initial education of children. A woman is the face of a nation, literally and figuratively.

The Kalmyks are a Western Mongolian people living mainly in the Republic of Kalmykia. The number in the world is about 200 thousand people.
Han ranks first in number among the peoples of the Earth (19% of the population), is the largest nationality in China, Hong Kong and Macau, as well as in the Republic of China and Singapore. The population is 1.3 billion people.
Buryats are the indigenous population of Buryatia, the Ust-Orda Buryat Autonomous Okrug, the Aginsky Buryat Autonomous Okrug. Outside of Russia - in Northern Mongolia and in the northeast of China. The total number is 520 thousand people.

The Uighurs are the indigenous people of East Turkestan, now the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China. The number is 11 million people.
Altaians, Oirots - the people of the Altai Republic. Number - 71 thousand people.
Uzbeks are the main and indigenous population of Uzbekistan. A fairly large number of Uzbeks live in Afghanistan, Tajikistan, southern Kazakhstan, southern Kyrgyzstan, northern and eastern Turkmenistan. The population is about 29 million people.
How well we solve the task - to judge the public. We do not seek to show the "template" of the ideal representative. We need living, real stories.

Ossetians mainly live in the Caucasus, Russia and Georgia. The total population is about 700 thousand people.
The Bashkirs are a Turkic-speaking people living on the territory of the Republic of Bashkortostan and the historical region of the same name. Indigenous people of the Southern Urals and the Urals. The number in the world is about 2 million people.
Kumyks are a Turkic-speaking people, one of the indigenous peoples of Dagestan. Number - 505 thousand people. They live in the Republic of Dagestan, in North Ossetia, the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug and in Chechnya.

Kazakhs are a Turkic people, the main population of Kazakhstan. Kazakhs have long lived in regions of China, Russia, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan adjacent to Kazakhstan, as well as in the west of Mongolia. Only 14.5 million people.
Chechens are a North Caucasian people, the main population of Chechnya. Historically, they also live in the regions of Dagestan, Ingushetia, the Akhmeta region of Georgia. The total number of Chechens in the world is 1.55 million people.
Circassians are the indigenous population of Kabardino-Balkaria, Adygeya, Karachay-Cherkessia and the Krasnodar Territory. The population is about 3 million.
The project is in the process of implementation. Applications are being accepted. We are looking for representatives of all peoples of the world and we want to show all peoples (ethnic groups) without exception.
Candidates for participation in the project are young women from 18 to 30 years old with regular facial features, natural beauty and belonging to the same nationality for at least three generations. The selection of girls takes place first in absentia according to the letters of application received, then in person - according to the results of filming.

Abazins are one of the most ancient indigenous peoples of the Caucasus. The number is about 45 thousand. They live in the Russian Federation, most compactly in Karachay-Cherkessia. The Abaza diaspora exists in Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Syria.
The Ingush are the Vainakh people in the North Caucasus. They speak the Ingush language, written in Cyrillic. The total number worldwide is 700 thousand people.
The Shugnans are one of the Pamir peoples in Tajikistan and northern Afghanistan. The largest in number of the Pamir peoples.

Germans. A huge number of Germans live outside of Germany. For example, in the United States, people of German descent outnumber people from England. The number in the world is about 140 million people.
The French are the descendants of the Celtic peoples, currently a mixture of several ethnic groups. The number of the French is about 63 million people.
Lezgins (Lezgiar, Lekier) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Caucasus, historically living in the southern regions of modern Dagestan and in the north of Azerbaijan. Lezgins also live in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey. Number - 800 thousand people.
The project "National Origins of Beauty" was recognized by UNESCO and was first presented at the International Women's Day exhibition at the Paris headquarters of UNESCO in March 2014.
The goal of the project is to contribute to harmonization, strengthening tolerance in interethnic relations through the search for beauty in every nation, through equal attention to each ethnicity, respect for each other's characteristics, and stimulation of intercultural dialogue.
Contribute to the heritage of humanity by creating a universal multimedia and interactive collection
ethnic diversity of mankind for the period of the beginning of the XXI century.

The Portuguese are a people in the west of the Iberian Peninsula, the indigenous population of Portugal. Number - 31.2 million.
Lorraine is a Germanic people (almost completely assimilated with the French), living in the north-east of France on the border with Belgium and Germany, the main population of the French region of Lorraine. The number is about 1 million people.
Tatars are the main people of Tatarstan. They live in Russia, Bashkiria, Udmurtia, Mordovia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. The total population is 7 million people.

Belarusians are an East Slavic ethnic group. The total number is about 9.4 million people. They live mainly on the territory of the Republic of Belarus. They also inhabit the territories of Russia, Poland, Ukraine, Latvia and Lithuania adjacent to Belarus.
Russians are one of the largest ethnic groups in the world. The vast majority of Russians live in Russia and about 18 million live in neighboring countries. 3 million live in America and Europe. The total number is 137 million people.
Finns are Finno-Ugric people, the main population of Finland. Finns also live in the USA, Canada, Russia, Australia. There are about 6.5 million people in the world.

lesoriginesdelabeute.com

Natalia Ivanova- independent photo artist and photojournalist, photojournalist for the ITAR-TASS agency in France, author of the project "National Origins of Beauty"(Les origines de la beauté), in which she creates a single media encyclopedia of all the peoples of the world, consisting of author's photo portraits and video interviews of young women of various nationalities with an accompanying information note about each people.

Natalia and her team plan to work with representatives of every nationality of the world in 7 years. There is no Ossetian girl in the collection of portraits yet, but she will definitely appear soon. About his readiness to come to shoot in Ossetia Natalia Ivanova told Madina Temirova.

- Natalia, tell us about how the idea of ​​the project came about.

The diversity of ethnic groups and cultures, the originality and uniqueness of each of them has interested and delighted me ever since my studies at MGIMO.

When I became a professional photographer, I began to think about how to create a project that could collect and capture all the peoples of the world, show the full beauty of the existing diversity of humanity, without leaving a single nationality, no matter how small in number, unattended. Unfortunately, that rare attention to sometimes not at all small peoples is attracted mainly by military conflicts.

And in ordinary life, people are guided only by countries and races. In fact, about 90% of existing peoples are left out of attention.

With this project, my team and I strive to partially correct this injustice. This is a very ambitious task in terms of scope, and it was necessary to find a form that would be technically feasible and at the same time beautiful, interesting and understandable for the widest range of people.

Find what we could see in any ethnic group. Soon enough this form was defined :p Portrait of a beautiful female face representative of the nationality. Each nation has its own specific features, its own special beauty.

Another reason that prompted me to create this project was the limited beauty standards that prevail in the fashion industry, advertising, show business. Disputes about the parameters of a beautiful figure are well known to everyone, and they will be endless.

Here I mean faces. I don’t know about you, but as a portrait photographer, for example, I’m not interested in watching modern beauty contests. I don't see faces. The individuality of the beauty of each girl, her ethnic characteristics is hidden under the same type of stage make-up. It seems that everything is on the same face. For this reason, in our project, we try to minimize makeup in order to show the richness of the diversity of the natural beauty of faces, its shapes and colors.

- Tell me, why did this person become a woman? Why, say, not a child?

I settled exclusively on young girls for a number of reasons. In order to notice and compare all the ethno-physiological nuances and aesthetics of the face, it was necessary to determine the clear boundaries of age and gender. As for age...

A child is not yet a fully formed person, so it is difficult to notice ethno-physiological features on him. Adult people have already pronounced personality and age features on their faces, ethnic features become less noticeable.

It should also be said that against the background of the fight against discrimination, there is a tendency not to notice skin color, ethnic differences.

On the one hand, the logic is clear: it consists in the struggle for equality of rights and opportunities. But, on the other hand, in this struggle, people sometimes go too far, choosing not the best methods, such as simply ignoring, the appearance of the concepts of "indecent" questions about ethnic origin, as if it were some kind of physical handicap, ailments, etc.

This is humiliating and provokes the exact opposite effect. People are getting embittered, nationalist sentiments are ripening. Why not look at these differences from a different perspective?

From the point of view of the uniqueness and importance of the existence of each shade and nuance in the universal human ethno-cultural rainbow. We decided to present the entire palette of ethno-physical nuances in their most aesthetic form and thus make it clear that “beauty” can be found in any nationality, and, losing its “shades”, the world only becomes worse and poorer.

Why a woman and not a man?

- First of all, many men wear beards, in addition to this, the male facial features are coarser, while the female face is more refined and nuances are more visible on it. This is one moment.

Secondly, all our portraits assume a neutral facial expression, so a smile and any other facial expression distorts them. Accordingly, if we take even a very handsome young man who looks straight into your eyes from the portrait and does not smile, you must admit that the energy will be a little different. No matter how pretty he may be, a man is, first of all, a warrior, and his nature is courage.

It is important for us that the beauty of each portrait appeases, not provokes. Not to mention that the concept of beauty is traditionally associated with a woman.

- How long have you been working on the project, and what problems did you face?

We have been working on the project for over 2 years. It all started in Paris, where I currently live and work. Last year we connected Moscow.

In the future, we plan to travel to other large and nationally saturated cities.

One of the main difficulties that we had is a clear definition of the list of ethnic groups.

The concept of "ethnic group" has a fairly clear scientific definition. However, there are still no exact lists of existing peoples. Linguistic, regional ethnic groups, clans, castes, etc. - often these and other social formations are mistakenly perceived as separate ethnic groups.

In order for us to represent each nationality, it takes a lot of effort and money, so we cannot afford inaccuracies, not to mention the importance of the correct mention of each ethnic group. To do this, we cooperate and continue to invite various ethnologists to cooperate, who help us understand the most intricate issues.

- What is the target audience of the project, has it changed in the course of work?

The project carries an educational task for people of all ages and nationalities. To this end, we have chosen, first of all, the language of beauty, which is accessible and understandable to most people.

For those who want to learn more about the personality of the girl, as well as get basic information about the people she represents, we make video interviews, and we also plan to compile informational notes about each nationality with the help of specialists. Moreover, we translate this material into Russian, French and English. That is, as such, we do not have a target audience, it is very important for us to arouse in the largest possible number of men and women a healthy and positive interest in knowing the world of people and ourselves.

- Natalia, what can you say about the situation that is now developing in large cities? Both in Paris and in Moscow there is a problem of clashes between people with different cultures and different outlooks on life. Often, in the interests of politics or not quite high-quality media, such conflicts are artificially inflated. Do you think your project can deal with this problem?

Based on my personal experience and observations, in addition to overtly political provocations, many of the existing problems of interethnic coexistence are mainly related to the lack of elementary basic knowledge: cultural, religious, historical and many others. This project is designed to contribute to this education and to arouse interest among people with a wide variety of educational levels.

I have traveled a lot and lived in different countries.

Paris and Moscow, the cities whose way of life I know best, are very different in their level of intercultural communication. This immediately catches the eye.

In Paris, you get used to seeing representatives of different races, nationalities, and religious denominations having fun talking at the same table in a cafe. In one company you can see Africans, Europeans, Asians. Girls in hijab are often seen in the company of friends with a less strict style of clothing.

This is cultural dialogue - the desire to communicate, share, discover new things and respect other beliefs. In Moscow, there are still ethnic preferences in friendship and communication. To notice this, just walk down the street. This is a problem of society and politics as well. Nevertheless, healthy tendencies and initiatives are being actively formed in Russia.

Today, with the development of a free interactive Internet space, people have become more entrepreneurial in their desire to change society for the better, no matter how “poor quality” the media may be. Any individual person can today, with the help of the Internet, become, in a certain sense, a means of information, influence public opinion.

But serious and noticeable changes require the coordinated actions of many, the support of state or other influential structures and, of course, the people themselves in all their diversity.

HELPFUL INFORMATION:

Official website of the project: www.lesoriginesdelabaute.com

Instagram: lesorigines delabaute

To the attention of girls who want to take part in the project:

To participate in the project, you must send an e-mail [email protected] application containing the following information:

- Your age
- your national roots in three generations
- what city do you live in
- your contacts (phone number and links in social networks)
- several photo-portraits in full face without a smile (like a passport) and without makeup.
- if possible, a short video message

Criteria:

18-30 years old
- belonging to the same nationality for at least three generations
- beautiful / photogenic face in full face
- preferably without radically colored hair

Presentation of the project “National Origins of Beauty”

More recently, I came across an interesting international project "The National Origins of Beauty" (Les origines de la beauté). This is a non-commercial documentary and research project about the ethnic diversity of humanity, presented through the beauty of women of all nationalities.

Natalia Ivanova (photo-correspondent of the ITAR-TASS agency, France), initiated the media project "National Origins of Beauty", which has already received UNESCO recognition. For 7-10 years, she and her team plan to collect a collection of portraits and video interviews of girls of all nationalities of the world. The objective of the project is to fully, systematically and at the same time creatively show the real scale of the ethno-cultural multitude of people, to illustrate each original ethnicity, no matter how small it is and what political status it would not have. It is the ethnic groups, and not the states, that are put at the heart of the project in order to clearly demonstrate the entire multinational flavor of the world.

The basis of the implementation is the author's photo portraits and video interviews of young women representatives of nationalities, with an accompanying informational note about each nation. They talk about their people, their traditions, problems, experiences, happy and sad moments, and most importantly, they do not forget their roots and are proud of them.

Bashkir. Part 1.

Altai. Part 1.

Armenian. Part 1.

Kazakh. Part 1.

Tunisian. Part 1.