If you create or own art
concerning menstruation or menopause and are
interested in showing it on thesepages (it's
free!), contact MUM
Marie
Claire magazine (Italian edition)
featured several of the above artists in an
article about
this museum and menstruation in 2003. The
newspaper Corriere
della Sera (Io Donna magazine)
(Milan, Italy) and the magazine Dishy (Turkey)
showed some of the artists in 2005 in
articles about this museum.
Cartoon
strip: "A Visit to the Museum of
Menstruation"
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Museum of Menstruation and Women's
Health
Former museum
See photos of artist
Olivia Inwood's Igloo
installation.
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Artist Olivia Inwood writes,
Hi Mr Finley, I am an
emerging Australian artist and would
like to submit my artwork 'Menstrual
Igloo' for inclusion on your website.
I discovered MUM when I was
researching art based on menstruation
and your collection inspired me when I
was in the process of creating this
particular work, for a university art
project on abject art. I have attached
an artist statement and images of my
work to this email.
Kind regards,
Olivia Inwood
Artist Statement:
Olivia Inwood
Menstrual Igloo (2015)
1.8m x 2.0m x 1.15m tent covered
in 400 menstrual pads; fake blood
made from cocoa powder, red food
dye and golden syrup
This installation work explores
menstruation as a form of abject art
through direct confrontation with the
detritus of periods – menstrual
pads. Blood-smeared menstrual pads that
would be usually thrown away,
instead create a form of shelter that is
immediately visible to the
viewer. From the interior, the work
continues to focus on the remnants
of periods, with another pile of
discarded menstrual pads and blood
smeared on the white bed sheets and
pillow. This intimate space
resembles the privacy of a bedroom,
which the viewer is
voyeuristically peering into.
Symbolically, the igloo-like structure
resonates with multiple
meanings descending from the core idea
of shelter. In tribal societies
in Mali, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea
menstrual huts were created to
segregate women from the rest of their
community, due to the taboo
associated around menstruation and the
idea that therefore women were
‘impure’ [1] . Even within religions
such as Russian Orthodox,
Hinduism and Judaism menstruating women
were prohibited from entering
temples or going to church. [2] Thus,
this history attitudes towards
menstruation can be related to the
meaning behind this work, in the
sense that the idea of a space, which
segregates women is instead
satirised by the prominent outside
structure adorned with menstrual
pads.
In addition to these references to
menstrual huts, the outside
structure also alludes to issues
surrounding the environment and
waste. The actual structure of the tent
situates the work within the
outdoors and yet it is juxtaposed with
the plastic and polyethylene
structure of the menstrual pads that are
non-biodegradable. This
notion of menstrual pads as a product
that later becomes waste is
particularly prevalent and current
issues surrounding the GST tax on
pads and tampons (in Australia) can also
come to mind with the expense
in purchasing such products.
Similarly, the interior of the work
draws on inspiration from
menstrual huts and contemporary issues
surrounding menstruation. The
intimate space reveals the usually
considered private dimension of one
having their period. In particular, the
large blood smear on the bed
sheets references a current issue in the
media of an artist who
photographed herself lying in bed, with
blood on the bed sheets and
her clothes [3] . This photo that was
deemed offensive by the website
instagram was later censored, causing
dismay. In this sense,
menstruation can still be seen as a
taboo issue, reserved only for
consideration in private spaces.
Overall, this work is multi-faceted
through the incorporation of a
variety of issues surrounding the abject
nature of menstruation and
its remnants, as well as what one
considers to be public versus
private space. The impending structure
directly confronts the viewer
with the end product of the menstruation
process and the menstrual
pads existing within a visible public
space.
[1] M Guterman, P Mehta, M
Gibbs. Menstrual Taboos Among Major
Religions. The Internet Journal of World
Health and Societal Politics.
2007 Volume 5 Number 2.
[2] ibid.
[3] Zhang, M. (2015). Instagram
Censors Photo of Fully Clothed Woman
on Period, Causes Uproar. PetaPixel.
Retrieved 18 June 2015, from
http://petapixel.com/2015/03/28/instagram-censors-photo-of-fully-clothed-woman-on-period-causes-uproar/
See photos
of the installation.
More about menstrual
huts.
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NEXT artist:
Judy Jones
See all the
artists in the links in the
left-hand column.
If you create or own art
concerning menstruation or menopause
and are interested in showing it on
these pages (it's free!), contact MUM
© 2016 Harry Finley. It is
illegal to reproduce or distribute
work on this Web site in any manner or
medium without written permission of
the author. Please report suspected
violations to hfinley@mum.org
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