The Vaginal Wall
“Draw a Vagina, your vagina, a vagina you know well or your vision of one”
What would you draw? What did the community of sex educators and HIV prevention specialists draw? (See images >>>)
The Vaginal Wall is a unique exhibition made up of drawings of vaginas by people working on HIV and AIDS issues. The Pleasure Project first introduced it at the XIV International AIDS conference in Barcelona and then continued to develop it as a thought-provoking and educational sexual health discussion tool to promote female-initiated HIV prevention and the female condom. People in Burkina Faso, England, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Kenya and many other countries across Africa, Asia and Europe were asked at the beginning of a sexual health meeting or workshop to draw a vagina …“Any vagina, your vagina, a vagina you know well or your vision of one.”
The ‘artists’ are women and men, nurses and doctors, HIV negative and positive, outreach workers, policy makers, health programmers, administrators, mothers, sex workers, clients of sex workers, people from rural areas and from cities. Their common thread is that they are all people somehow involved in HIV prevention, some with more power or money and those with much less, those with access to information and those without.
When they were asked very simply to draw a vagina, almost all were shocked, many laughed, many giggled and a few even ran from the room. Many felt unable to do it. Many admitted they felt ashamed and totally embarrassed. Many hid their drawings.
This exhibition comes at a time when women are getting infected with HIV at higher and higher rates and women’s vulnerability to HIV has become a key issue in prevention. Discussion of sexual anatomy in a frank and open way is essential as the first step in sexuality education, and as a key to sexual empowerment, particularly for women.
The Vaginal Wall has been exhibited at: The Bangkok XV International AIDS Conference 11-16 July, 2004; Eat Me restaurant, Soi Phipat, off Soi Convent, Bangkok, Tuesday 13 July 2004; Women’s Networking Bar at the Global Village at Impact Centre, Bangkok.
The Vaginal Wall continues to develop every time it is exhibited. It provides a provocative and exciting interactive activity for people involved with HIV/AIDS, sexual health and sexual rights, bringing attention to women’s health, women’s rights and the need to be more open and honest about sexuality in relation to women’s empowerment. See images from The Vaginal Wall >>>
The Vaginal Wall is a unique exhibition made up of drawings of vaginas by people working on HIV and AIDS issues. The Pleasure Project first introduced it at the XIV International AIDS conference in Barcelona and then continued to develop it as a thought-provoking and educational sexual health discussion tool to promote female-initiated HIV prevention and the female condom. People in Burkina Faso, England, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Kenya and many other countries across Africa, Asia and Europe were asked at the beginning of a sexual health meeting or workshop to draw a vagina …“Any vagina, your vagina, a vagina you know well or your vision of one.”
The ‘artists’ are women and men, nurses and doctors, HIV negative and positive, outreach workers, policy makers, health programmers, administrators, mothers, sex workers, clients of sex workers, people from rural areas and from cities. Their common thread is that they are all people somehow involved in HIV prevention, some with more power or money and those with much less, those with access to information and those without.When they were asked very simply to draw a vagina, almost all were shocked, many laughed, many giggled and a few even ran from the room. Many felt unable to do it. Many admitted they felt ashamed and totally embarrassed. Many hid their drawings.
This exhibition comes at a time when women are getting infected with HIV at higher and higher rates and women’s vulnerability to HIV has become a key issue in prevention. Discussion of sexual anatomy in a frank and open way is essential as the first step in sexuality education, and as a key to sexual empowerment, particularly for women.
The Vaginal Wall has been exhibited at: The Bangkok XV International AIDS Conference 11-16 July, 2004; Eat Me restaurant, Soi Phipat, off Soi Convent, Bangkok, Tuesday 13 July 2004; Women’s Networking Bar at the Global Village at Impact Centre, Bangkok.
The Vaginal Wall continues to develop every time it is exhibited. It provides a provocative and exciting interactive activity for people involved with HIV/AIDS, sexual health and sexual rights, bringing attention to women’s health, women’s rights and the need to be more open and honest about sexuality in relation to women’s empowerment. See images from The Vaginal Wall >>>
