You're reading: Guardian: Sleeping Beauty becomes a political and personal allegory in Ukraine

A Kyiv art project where 'sleeping beauties' marry the man who wakes them with a kiss encapsulates the gamble of love. 

Once upon a time, in the beautiful and politically volatile eastern European nation of Ukraine, five young women took turns lying on a bed in the National Art Museum, waiting for a true love’s kiss. Their potential princes, after having presented their passports to the security guards (a Ukrainian’s marital status is always reflected on his or her passport) and undergone a test for oral herpes, were allowed to kiss whichever young woman was on duty. Should she open her eyes during the kiss, they would be married instantly. Both the visitors to the museum and the sleeping beauties on display had previously signed a contract agreeing to the quickie marriage.

Read more here.