Real-life sleeping beauty and suitors try for fairytale love in Ukraine

A group of women were slated to snooze in the central gallery of the National Art Museum of Ukraine this month, inviting worthy male suitors to try and wake the slumbering women with a single kiss. They're not under the spell of an evil witch or a poison apple however; instead, the ladies been recruited to participate in an art exhibit appropriately titled "Sleeping Beauty."

The fairy-tale inspired project was imagined by Ukrainian-Canadian artist Taras Polataiko. Influenced by an old story by Charles Perrault, where a young maiden is cursed to sleep for 100 years, only to be awakened by true love's kiss. In the spirit of this "once upon a time" literature, Polataiko cast several female volunteers as his performance beauties, tasked with "sleeping" in the Ukrainian museum for two hours at a time, every day from August 22nd until September 9th. Dressed in white and laid upon an elevated bed, the women lay motionless in the museum's space, awaiting a kiss from that one perfect museum patron.

But there's a serious legal catch to the piece. To participate in the exhibit, potential princes have to sign a contract that states, "If I kiss the Beauty and she opens her eyes, I agree to marry her." The female performers have also entered into an agreement that reads, "If I open my eyes while being kissed, I agree to marry the kisser." So unlike the chivalrous charmers of yore, these contemporary heroes are contractually bound to live happily ever after if their princess so chooses.

This modern interpretation of damsels in distress gives the woman a say in whether she will be rescued or not, though the performance still adheres to the archaic concept that only a male will awaken the sleeping princesses. "The tension of the performance is in the seductiveness and fear of the ultimate moment," describes the exhibit's press release. "The viewer will have to think twice before kissing the Beauty. The Beauty will have to decide if the ultimate moment has come or not. The show will end the moment the Beauty opens her eyes."

The "Sleeping Beauty" exhibit almost experienced it's own unhappy ending in the run-up to its opening, when the artist Polataiko was called to the museum director's office and told by the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture that he would be forced to shut down his work. Polataiko recounted the attempted censorship on his Facebook page, stating that the ministry provided no reason behind their disapproval and later likened the situation to "a return to totalitarianism."

The disagreement was later worked out in meetings between the ministry and the museum. Nataliia Mykhailova, a public relations representative at the museum, confirmed the Ministry of Culture's intervention, stating in an email to the Huffington Post: "We really had some difficulties, but now it is all arranged and the exhibition is working as planned."

The museum has a history of experiencing resistance on the part of the Ukrainian government, as a serpentine installation erected on the exterior of the museum earlier this summer was almost halted after officials claimed the material was flammable.

www.huffingtonpost.com...


I specially like this part: """But there's a serious legal catch to the piece. To participate in the exhibit, potential princes have to sign a contract that states, "If I kiss the Beauty and she opens her eyes, I agree to marry her." The female performers have also entered into an agreement that reads, "If I open my eyes while being kissed, I agree to marry the kisser." So unlike the chivalrous charmers of yore, these contemporary heroes are contractually bound to live happily ever after if their princess so chooses."""

reply to post by AQ6666


I myself would never do it, not matter how beautiful the girls is. What if she has a STD or mental isues?

Then again, she could be tremendously wealthy.

That's a desperate roll of the dice I would not take.

I love classic romance, this is very interesting. I would really like to know how this pans out. As the poster above said though, as beautiful as the lady in the photo looks, she could be a head case! And visa-versa.

So, every fat, coke bottled eyeglassed, pimply kid is lined up around the block to grope a trainwreck of a girl who has made this her last ditch effort in finding her prince charming.
I feel pain for these newer generations who cannot seem to meet people nowadays.
Just do it like we did back when, find a friend of a friend that you do not like and argue until you realize you are more alike then you thought.
True story, I thought my wife was a **** when I first met her, she thought even less of me.

Originally posted by g146541
So, every fat, coke bottled eyeglassed, pimply kid is lined up around the block to grope a trainwreck of a girl who has made this her last ditch effort in finding her prince charming.

"inviting worthy male suitors"...

BRB

I would just do it and whisper "im american" before kissing her. Instant bride