Creative mind find ways to express

Photo: Anita Pradhan, WAN

Ashmina Ranjit, a well known artist in Nepal performed an installation art to show social taboos of menstruation. The artist was wearing a gown made of sanitary napkins and was carrying a pipe where blood was flowing. Women during menstrual period are treated as impure and are not allowed to enter kitchen. In some rural areas, women are prime targets of wild life as they were not allowed to sleep inside house and had to sleep outside during these periods. It will be amazing to note that some women were not allowed to eat properly. The things are worse in rural areas where young girls have to miss their school as they do not have toilet in their schools. It is believed that these women should not touch any plants. The artist with her creativity challenged these social notions.

What was tough for us as advocates to spread these social messages through creative forms like installation art? WaterAid in Nepal team especially Anita and Om had worked together with the artists to help her in the different messages that society should be knowing in terms of menstrual hygiene. The crowd gathering to enjoy and have fun will not be that conscious and serious on grasping the messages. Thinking was that there will be wider coverage in media as well as presence of high profile members in the gathering will definitely make menstruation, a political topic to be covered and discussed.

It is not so easy to have some well known artist be convinced to take forward the issue that she has been raising and incorporate issues of menstruation hygiene. Maintaining balance of spreading message of menstruation as social taboo was much easier than that of menstruation hygiene. It made me feel that may be we need to have more interactions and discussions to crystallize our thoughts and share it with her so that she can add more essence of her creativity in changing dimensions of menstruation hygiene.

Big thanks goes to Ashmina who has agreed to take this issue of menstruation forward and helping us with breaking the silence of menstruation. Appreciations should also be given to Anita and Om who had been constantly communicating with the artists and helping with her for chalking out the messages that society should be knowing. I should not be forgetting Ashutosh sir and Rabin sir for their motivations and encouragements, we tried something new and it worked but were we successful or not we are yet to measure:)