About the Humanæ Project
Humanæ is a photographic work-in-progress by Angélica Dass, an unusually direct reflection on skin colour, attempting to document humanity’s true colours rather than the untrue labels “white”, “red”, “black” and “yellow” associated with race. It’s a project in constant evolution seeking to demonstrate that what defines the human being is its inescapable uniqueness and, therefore, its diversity. The background for each portrait is tinted with a colour tone identical to a sample of 11 x 11 pixels taken from the nose of the subject and matched with the industrial palette Pantone®, it calls into question the contradictions and stereotypes related to the race issue. The direct and personal dialogue with the public and the absolute spontaneity of participation are fundamental values of the project and connote them with a strong vein of activism. The project does not select participants and there is no date set for its completion. It features someone included in the Forbes list, to refugees who crossed the Mediterranean Sea by boat, to students both in Switzerland and the favelas in Rio de Janeiro, people at the UNESCO Headquarters, and at a shelter. A variety of beliefs, gender identities, physical impairments; a new-born, or terminally ill people; all together build Humanae.
Currently, more than 4,000 images exist in the project. They have been taken in 37 cities, in 20 different countries: Arteixo, Madrid, Barcelona, Getxo, Bilbao and Valencia (Spain), Paris (France), Bergen (Norway), Winterthur, Chiasso (Switzerland), Groningen, The Hague (Netherlands), Dublin (Ireland), London (UK), Tyumen (Russia), Gibellina and Vita (Italy), Vancouver, Montreal (Canada), New York, San Francisco, Gambier, Pittsburgh and Chicago (USA), Quito (Ecuador), Valparaíso (Chile), Sao Paulo, Brasilia and Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Córdoba (Argentina), New Delhi (India), Daegu (South Korea) Wenzhou and Shanghai (China), Ciudad de México, Oaxaca (Mexico) and Addis Ababa (Ethiopia
(This appeared in the print as ‘Beauty Is A Social Construct’)
