Days at the Opera

Two photos from Varvara Shavrova's The Opera exhibition display a Peking Opera actor's appearance before and after putting on makeup and costumes. Photos Provided to China Daily

Peking Opera was initially an exclusively male pursuit, with female characters played by male actors since Emperor Qianlong (1711-1799) had banned all female performers in 1772.

Although the ban was lifted in 1912, the tradition of males playing female roles continues.

This requires actors to put on layers of makeup and costumes, and heavy headdresses, which Shavrova says are almost like "helmets".

She photographed actors getting dressed, in sets of eight, to show the gradual transformation.

For example, the first picture of a series features a man without any makeup. The next few show the man applying layers of heavy makeup and putting on a head cloth to cover his hair, followed by an elaborate headdress with beautiful decorations. In the last few photographs, the character's femininity emerges.

The final shot shows what appears to be a woman with long hair, delicate facial features and a soft gaze.

The exhibition also displays a large-scale projection of a 17-minute film demonstrating Chinese opera and two plasma screens showing five-minute time-lapse videos.

The exhibition was originally commissioned by and shown at the Espacio Cultural El Tanque in 2011 - an old oil depot on the Spanish island Tenerife. It was shown in 2012 at the Ballina Arts Center in Ireland and this year at the Patrick Heide Contemporary Art gallery in London.