PAIN, PLEASURE & BEAUTY | 1000 Years of Foot-binding in China with Ruth Clemens

For over one thousand years upper class Chinese culture required women to have bound feet. The smaller the feet the more beautiful they were regarded. Yet the intricate binding process which commenced in childhood was extremely painful.

In this fascinating illustrated talk, Ruth Clemens, specialist in Asian Art and Culture and member of the Committee of Management of The Asian Arts Society of Australia, will show exquisite examples from her shoe collection and look at the social, physical and political implications of a practice which only officially ceased in 1911.

In association with The Asian Arts Society of Australia Inc