Monthly Archives: January 2014

Collaborating with Anastasia: Kayan Lahwi (Burma): Second Attempt

Theses are the second batch of dough neck rings I fried. They are successful in that they are small and so I will be able to fit more around Anastasia’s neck, however they did not expand as much as the first batch and so the shape is not perfect.

IMG_8507 IMG_8506  IMG_8509

I cropped, and resized the photographs, and edited the contrast as before. I then extended each image to 30 frames to make each image last longer on screen. When playing it on Flash I have realised that the images are not as clear or as effective as my original piece. Because of this I will not be continuing it and will be taking the photographs again. Anastasia and I will be meeting on 4th February in the Art Department to use the photography space to get a better results with the photographs. The new pieces will be being baked on 3rd February.

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Collaborating with Anastasia: Female Genital Mutilation: First Attempt

This was my first attempt at using dough to create the shape of female genitalia. I found it extremely difficult to manipulate, with it switching from too dry to too sticky, pun not intended. I left it to bake for too long before taking it out the oven to begin cutting so while it was easy to cut pieces off, it was impossible for it to fold without cracking and breaking. As I was lacking in surgical thread or anything similar I used egg to clasp the sides together which was unsuccessful. The ending piece represented something more phallic than feminine. P1090106 P1090107 P1090113 P1090118 P1090121 P1090124 P1090133

Collaborating with Anastasia: Female Genital Mutilation: Future Fashion

Collaborating with Anastasia: Female Genital Mutilation: Future Fashion

“Another campaign that she is working on with the Shoreditch Sisters is to raise awareness of female genital mutilation, a practice that still goes on in countries around the world and even in the UK. After hearing that the term ‘embroidery’ in Persian relates to the act of FGM, she created a campaign that encourages people to create embroidered vulvas, which will be put together to create a large art piece”

http://urbantimes.co/magazine/2012/09/the-future-of-fashion-with-tara-scott/

Collaborating with Anastasia: Female Genital Mutilation: Processes Research

Definition

World Health Organisation – “all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.”

Classification

UNICEF categories:

  1. Cut, no flesh removed (pricking)
  2. Cut, some flesh removed
  3. Sewn closed
  4. Type not determined/unsure/doesn’t know

WHO categories:

  1. 1a – Removal of the clitoral hood. 1b –  Partial or total removal of the clitoris, and the prepuce
  2. Partial or total removal of the clitoris and inner labia, with or without removal of the outer labia
  3. Removal of all external genitalia and the fusing of the wound, leaving a small hole (2–3 mm) for the passage of urine and menstrual blood
  4. All other harmful procedures to the female genitalia for non-medical purposes, for example, pricking, piercing, incising, scraping and cauterization.

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Processes

To find terms for the different processes click here.

Materials to be considered

  • Surgical thread
  • Equivalent of anaesthesia
  • Non-sterile cutting devices: knives, razors, scissors, cut glass, sharpened rocks, fingernails
  • Agave/ Acacia thorns or the equivalent
  • Eggs or sugar as adhesive

Case Studies

“Mama tied a blindfold over my eyes. The next thing I felt my flesh was being cut away. I heard the blade sawing back and forth through my skin. The pain between my legs was so intense I wished I would die.” – Waris Dirie, UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador and spokesperson on FGM