Installations

The team of Femme 14 consists of Tanvi Shrimali, Vidushi Garg, Nandini Sarin, Niyutsa Rajesh, Abisha Soans, Gunveen Kaur, Palak Agarwal, Nandini Jerajani, Nidhi Tendulkar, Nivedita Desai, Muskan Agarwal, Tanvi Prabhakar, Simran Satija, and Adya Girdhar

"Who has it?” addresses the many stereotypes around breast cancer, the romanticization of the lifestyle of influencers and the notion that their ideal lifestyles would eliminate their risk of breast cancer. Young, menstruating girls go unnoticed when it comes to the idea of examination, whereas, if caught early, treatments are more effective. The purpose of the startling message is to drive the point home that anyone can be a victim of breast cancer and that regular self-checks are the only way to prevent it from going unnoticed.

Paint by Number is an interactive mural that was designed by members of Femme 14 to involve the audience at the event ThinkPink where it was put up. The blank canvas consisted of shapes that were numbered according to the colour that had to be filled in them. Over the course of the day, participants filled in these colours and the final image as revealed above, reads “check”. This drives home the message to “check” oneself for symptoms of breast cancer to procure early treatment.

Another interactive installation that encourages the audience to feel the breast-like figures made from cloth. This installation details the steps of a self-examination and simulates the symptoms of breast cancer that one might find, such as lumps, inverted nipples and discharge. It was made after consultation with multiple doctors to ensure accuracy and de-stigmatize the process of self-examination.

Under the Sun was an artist-led project done with other students at Srishti Institute of Art and Design in Bangalore, which invites participants to consider and respond to written and visual records, from the earliest accumulations of written and printed documents to the often ephemeral aura of digital publishing. The work was carried out during the first three weeks of Feb 2023.

“In the 3rd century BC, The Ptolomies, the last dynasty of ancient Egypt, dreamed of gathering all the books in the world, without exception, in a universal library. It might have been the last and only time this could have been possible. The library at Alexandria was famously destroyed over a prolonged period by fire, wars, ideological and religious conflicts and by theft. The destruction of archives has continued up to the present, one witness of the destruction of the National library in Sarajevo described the fragments of the fire as “black butterflies floating into the air”. Changes of digital platforms and the continual additions and omissions of content continue to alter the nature of what is remembered and what is lost.”
AFP 03/23