No More Cutting: Empowering the Female Body with Art
The art project No More Cutting is on a mission to empower women and raise awareness of female genital mutilation. The project sets out a clear message, some women choose to cut themselves to fit with distorted idea of ‘normal’ and ‘preferred’ female genitalia, when in reality normality comes in many shapes and forms.
It is estimated that at least 200 million girls and women around the world have undergone genital mutilation, a brutal practise that involves the partial or total removal of the female genitalia. The procedure is generally completed without anaesthetic and can lead to lifelong health consequences including chronic infection and psychological trauma. There is no statistic for how many girls die from female genital mutilation (FGM).
No More Cutting seeks to educate women on the ‘uniqueness’ nature of the female form as part of inspiring the end to FGM within a generation. The project was founded by Mandy Smith, director of Amsterdam’s Papersmith Studio, in collaboration with paper artist Oksana Valentelis, photographer Kyla Elaine and the interactive production company Random Studio. The project’s showcase features paper vaginas of all shapes and sizes, the collection is currently made of 81 artworks, with the use of paper signifying fragility and the team hope to craft more than 1,000 for an exhibition early next year.
The project aims to highlight human diversity by aiming to raise awareness, open discussions and gain on going support. Through new laws being passed, more education and changing general opinion No More Cutting hopes to put an end to FGM.
Women aged 18 and over are invited to submit images of their vaginas anonymously through the No More Cutting website, which will then be turned into paper art. If you are interested in finding out more or getting involved in the project contact studio@papersmith.co
Image courtesy of No More Cutting
