In some cultures, a smooth, unmarked skin represents an ideal of beauty, but people in many others see smooth skin as an unfinished, unattractive surface. Scarification, also called cicatrization, alters skin texture by cutting the skin and controlling the body's healing process. The cuts, which are treated to prevent infection and to enhance the scars' visibility, leave visable incisions after the skin heals. Inserting substances like clay or ash in the wounds results in permanently raised weals or bumps, known as keloids. Substances inserted into the wounds may also result in changes in skin color, creating marks similar to tattoos. Cutting elaborate and extensive decorative patterns into the skin usually indicates a permanent change in a person's status.

The designs often have symbolic meaning, and the same patterns may be used on textiles, woodcarvings, ceramics, and sculpture. Because scarification is painful, the richly scarred person is often honored for endurance and courage.

The process of scarification involves an endurance of pain. This endurance often signifies a rite of passage and is a ritual which is itself highly significant. The exhibition explores the diversity of designs and the meanings behind these and addresses the issue of pain and focuses on the importance of the process itself.

M Eliade in Encyclopedia of Religion (1987) summarises: Scarification is the operation of marking with scars, Cicatrization is the subsequent formation of a scar at the site of a healing wound - the healing process. The deliberate formation of keloids, sharply elevated, often round or oval scars due to the rich production of collagen in the dermal layer. These terms are often used interchangeably.

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