Over the past weekend i participated in a very inspiring world building jam in Viborg at the animation workshop university.

As a group we developed a concept and some sketches for our project called “Hair everywhere – a society covered and divided by hair”.  

The world we created consists of people that are more or less covered with body hair. They do not wear clothes, only their hair. The worlds social system is based on the length, thickness and color of the hair – which depends on the area and climate they live in. The longer, thicker and whiter the hair, the higher the social status. The world has 3 different climate areas: dry cold with lots of ice up in the north, further south is the rainy moderate area, and closest to the equator you have a warm dry area with even dryer seasons.

People believe into a higher being called “the hairy one” which by legend is supposed to be the wisest of them all. Thats why hair in this society has become a symbol for divine perfection. To look more like their idol people are taking a lot of care about their hair. Women wear their hair in sculptural veils or raise their hairless kids in it.

People are born bald and when they get their first hair (around the age of 12) there is a huge coming of age-ritual – called a hair-mitzvah. In that ceremony their relatives and friends comb the first hair with special combs made from mineral crystals and get handed over the family tapestry, which is made from the hair of their ancestors. If a kid´s hair grows very early or is white right away, they‘re considered being kissed by the gods and predestined to become priests.

People who break the law might be shaved – the ultimate symbol of shame. People with loads of hair only wash it once a year in a ceremony where fortune teller read from the mud which drains from it.