CULTURAL CONTEXT
Flow of Life is part of a vibrant worldwide movement for menstrual equity and education. The tides are shifting all over the planet on this vital issue.
The power of this work speaks directly to the healing of women’s relationship to their natural monthly process. To help them see the sacred beauty that resides deep within their blood.
“Venus in Shell” by Belgian photographer Lucile Dizier and French illustrator Pauline Wathelet
Over recent years the issue of period poverty has been really picking up momentum. Activists all over are calling for more education and resources for women and girls, to end the stigma associated with menstruation and provide access to hygienic products.
Period poverty is the umbrella term for menstrual equity & justice. It affects women, girls and people who menstruate all over the world. It involves the access to menstrual products, safe, hygienic spaces in which to use them, and the right to manage menstruation without shame or stigma, is essential for anyone who menstruates. The cultural shame attached to menstruation and a shortage of resources is seriously harming to women.
“After millennia of being shrouded in taboo and superstition, periods have gone mainstream. A high-profile, high-energy movement has emerged—one dedicated to bold activism, creative product innovation, and smart policy advocacy—to address menstruation in relation to core issues of equality and equity. ”
— Jennifer Weiss-Wolf, author of ‘Periods Gone Public’
Menstrual Art + Activism
Art plays a vital role in promoting a radical alternative view of menstruation, which reflects the realities of menstruation and presents a range of experiences. It’s important that space is created to show and share these responses to menstruation outside the polished, sanitised visual narratives of the menstrual product industry.
These Artists Use Menstrual Blood In Their Work
www.refinery29.com
Menstrual art: why everyone should go and see it
www.theconversation.com
Let it bleed – art’s revival of menstrual blood
Since the 1970s, art forms have touched on the subject of menstruation. Now a new generation of artists, authors and activists are turning taboo into celebration
www.theguardian.com
The Art of Menstruation (film)
Taboo since ancient times, periods are also taboo in art. But thanks to a generation of feminist artists determined to end the shame around menstruation, period blood is making a big splash in the art world - even if social media has yet to catch up.
www.arte.tv
Flow: The Exhibition about Menstruation
www.smb.museum
PERIOD - End of a Sentence (film)
This film from director Rayka Zehtabchi won an Oscar for Best Documentary Short Subject.
www.youtube.com
Vagina Museum
https://www.vaginamuseum.co.uk
Menstrual blood is playfully portrayed as a train of glass beads.
Train, by Kiki Smith, 1993, United States.