Blood Speaks
Central to this story is the ritual of Chaupadi in Nepal in which girls and women are forced to endure an exile in rudimentary shelters, many barely sufficient for animals, while they are menstruating. The origin of the violence is the impurity of a woman’s menstrual blood. Hidden, under-reported, and unresolved, these women are untouchable. Perpetrated under the guise of Hindu tradition, this violence takes the form of ‘exiles’ which keeps menstruation shrouded in mystery and taboo, a weapon to shame women into subservience. ‘Blood Speaks: Saraswati’s story’ doesn’t seek to just inform, it seeks to immerse audiences in a hidden world, making them bear witness to the injustice of Chaupadi’s practice.
Poulomi Basu is an Indian neurodiverse artist known for her exploration of the interrelationship between systems of power and bodies through work that exists at the limits of art, technology and activism.
