Amnesty auction bids to end FGM
Auction for Action in Brussels aims to raise awareness and funds to help eradicate female genital mutilation around the world
Unique works up for sale
Firm figures are difficult to come by, but a recent study by the federal service for public health estimated the number of women living with FGM in this country to be more than 13,000, with a further 4,000 at high risk of suffering excision.
After a period of political squeamishness at the cultural sensitivities surrounding FGM (it is viewed in parts of Africa and the Middle East as both as a rite of passage and an incitement to chastity), there is a growing consensus – supported by the shocking testimony of individual victims such as Somali model and activist Waris Dirie – that action is urgently required to end this profoundly damaging practice.
Amnesty International is prominent in the fight against FGM, most recently with its Art for Action campaign. Members of the public signed pink paper rose petals, pledging their support to end FGM; Amnesty then asked a number of prominent artists to incorporate 8,000 of the more than 42,000 petals into artworks.
The artists were asked to imagine a world without FGM and their interpretations are colourful and varied: Ilaria Venturini Fendi has produced an elegant handbag, Cypriot artist Nayia Evangelou a pregnant figure, and Flanders’ own Walter Van Beirendonck a huge pair of “Walking Lips” (pictured above).
On 13 March, these unique works, plus a piece created and donated specially for the event by Brussels-based super-milliner Elvis Pompilio, will be auctioned at an Auction for Action to raise funds for Amnesty’s End FGM European network. In addition to fundraising, the aim, says Amnesty, is to take positive, creative action to tackle FGM and to move away from the image of passive victimhood.
March 13, 19.00
Taschen, Lebeaustraat 18
endfgm.eu/a4a
