05. reconnecting

17. the streets were the way to get around censorship

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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

I met Valérie just outside Montréal's chinatown to see her in action putting up some vulvettes on the street.

After climbing on traffic lights, walls and lamposts, we made our way to an underground pop-up club set in a chinatown warehouse. It had been repurposed to host a ton of kids, a variety of dark performances and unbeknownst to them, a vulva casting ritual.

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"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."

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What began as a performative dance piece, evolved as new symbolism was added to it's components, so Valérie decided to refer to it as a ritual: The Vulva Casting Ritual.

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While working on this project often one of the first questions I got was “how come it's a man talking about vulvas?” I’ve spoken at length with Valérie about this. 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.

In addition to it’s feminist and erotic components, Valérie’s art focuses on justice for women’s bodies, their expression and voice.

I’ve sought out and listened to a diverse group of women (ranging in age from their 20s to late 70s, across five countries) talk about their perspectives on vulva casting, including some who had no idea it was even a thing.

I wanted to be informed by them to help me approach this work with the respect it needs and a heightened sense of empathy. I’m aware that it’s a lot to ask, but that was my aim going in to it.

YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO CLIT THE BUTTON ---->

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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.

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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 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.