Menstrual Matters
Menstrual Matters is a series of narrative props to explore menstruation, allowing participants to map their cycle and navigate different menstrual landscapes. Visual metaphors facilitate discussion and reflection around complex issues associated with menstruation. As Onkar Kular writes in Crafting Narrative, these designed things with which we surround ourselves, feed into the memories and meanings which make up our lives. They become the ‘signifiers of who we are, and even the script for how we behave’.
Explore, educate, empower, through tangible thinking
Menstrual Matters can be used by both menstruators and non-menstruators. Inclusivity in menstrual learning is vital for instilling empathy and solidarity. (Pictured: teaching my little brother about the menstrual cycle).
Free Periods rally
In February of this year I joined the rally for free periods outside Scottish parliament. Monica Lennon’s Period Products (Free Provision) Bill was passed 112 to 0 with 1 abstention at stage 1! This would make period products available for free. (I’m pictured in the red scarf) #PeriodDignity
‘I thought bleeding was a technical term, like with radiators’
Menstrual Matters project film. As a way of engagement, I collected ‘period stories’ throughout my project, asking people to write about their first experience of menstruation. It was clear from reading these that many people felt awkward or ashamed and that most of the current menstrual education is superficial and often an ‘add on’ in biology class. In truth, every cycle is different and requires a flexible narrative. Menstrual Matters encourages people to reject menstrual misconceptions and reframe the narrative.
SenseVoice - Future Experiences
SenseVoice is a public service that encourages communities to capture their unique values through different senses. This non-linguistic form of expression offers an effective way of collecting and communicating important Memories, Aspirations and Judgements. A Value Navigator invites participants to capture an aspect of their community using the most appropriate physiological sense. Local creatives then transform these sense portraits into outputs such as exhibitions or presentations that can be shared with other communities, schools or governments. By experiencing positive or negative sensory values in this way, the SenseVoice network can appreciate how others around the globe are living. (Pictured, capturing the scent of an urban food garden in a school playground in Rio, 2030, an aspiration to share with a partner community).
New forms of expression
We experimented with language manipulation and the power of translation during the group phase of the Future Experiences project, receiving advice from external experts. We discussed how in 2030, environmental pressures may cause global organisations to limit their air travel and therefore rely more heavily on digital communication to operate. This may cause a disconnect in the understanding of different values around the world. In light of this, SenseVoice offers a new form of communication. As Dr Mia Perry, co-Director of the SFA (Sustainable Futures Africa) Network says ‘sometimes the most effective means of expression is through non-linguistic forces’. 2nd image - ceramic plate absorbs the scent when sprayed.
Release
The collected scent of the urban food garden in Rio is released to a school community in the UK. This smell transports participant receivers to the captured scene and may inspire them to create a similar garden of their own. (The scent itself was created at Arboretum, a fragrance design studio in Glasgow run by Clara Weale.)
The SenseVoice service
This SenseVoice film illustrates three scenarios of use. 1 - Celebrating an individual memory to be released in a community exhibition. 2 - Exchanging an aspiration with a community across the globe, released in a school setting. 3 - Inspiring community activism to be released to a local government.