01. reconnecting

02. streets were the way to get around censorship

00.

I want to help the world we live in become a better place for women and to celebrate all bodies. If my daughter gets to live in that better world, I’ll just be happy.

Valérie.- Vulvette Undergound

That day we met by Montréal's chinatown, I was there to document Valérie putting up some vulvettes on the street.

After climbing on traffic lights, walls and lamposts, we made our way to a pop-up club set in a chinatown warehouse. It had been repurposed to host what looked to me like a slice of goths, a variety of dark performances and unbeknownst to them, a vulva casting ritual.

05. straight out of Valérie’s vagina: the yoni egg

05A. “I think it would be pertinent to mention that I took it (the yoni egg) out of my vagina on stage to use it during the ritual” - Valérie

03.

04.

06.

07. Chinatown V at the 28 mark

07b.

08.

"To cast my vulva and show it like that, it was really a way of taking my power back and be like: if I want to show my body, you’re going to see it the way I want it to be seen… it was a way for me to say, ‘No, no, no, fuck you. I exist for myself and I can do whatever I want with my body and life and no one has anything to say about that at all." - Valérie

11. blow on the cast to help it dry

09.

What began as a performative piece, evolved when symbolism was added to it. As it progressed, Valérie felt it moved to the realm of rituals: The Vulva Casting Ritual.

10.

While working on this project I often got the question “how come it's a man talking about vulvas?” Rather than formulate an answer for you, I think that as you seep through these pages you'll come to understand how this came to be.

I’ll position myself as the observer of an artist’s work, one who’s spoken at length with the artist about their art. And that these nurtured conversations have resulted in realizations coming to light.

13.

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I find Valérie’s work fascinating. It’s brave of her as an individual and inspiring as a rebel raising her voice about issues affecting women. And she is doing so in a distinct, powerful way that is impossible to miss, forget or not have a stance on it.

12. keep going down

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The deep impact that casting their vulvas had on women crystallized the drive behind All of Valérie's V's

Ideally, what you make of this documentary will derive form what you see, read and hear coming from Valérie and the women that kindly opened up to share their thoughts, emotions, experiences and relationship to their bodies.

OVER THE NEXT FIVE WEEKS, I'll be rolling out the rest of our work as "pages" to present a complete documentary to you. This means more of Valérie's interview, photographs, soundbites and the thoughts of women who've experienced the vulva casting ritual.

An EPILOGUE will follow at the peak of summer with Valérie's group work, the new direction her art is taking and where these ideas are being cast into the future.

Follow @ALLOFVALERIESVS on Instagram to keep updated on everything about All of Valérie's V's!

@allofvaleriesvs

if you have questions, comments or feedback please send it my way at thevcraftprod@gmail.com