AZADEH MONZAVI (Canada)

A Period Piece Textiles - repurposed material: white cotton bed sheet, crochet threads, velvet holiday ribbons 40cm x 119cm £POA I got my first period while living in Turkey as a refugee with my father and brother. My mother had died when I was eight years old and neither of my sisters were with me during those years. I had to come to terms with the changes that were taking place within my body as a young girl. I also vividly recall the fear of having to purchase sanitary pads on my own from a pharmacy miles away from where we lived. This work resembles one of those thick, uncomfortable sanitary pads that women used in the early 1990s. The materials used are all second-hand and thrifted from local charity shops. The support is made of old white bedsheets which not only were historically a material used by women as makeshift sanitary pads, but they have often been stained by women’s periods. The sheets are then hand-sewn into the elongated shape and filled with quilt batting. The crochet section in the middle is a combination of crochet stitches numbered for the average age from which periods begin and to the age that they usually end due to menopause; as well as the average number of days that a period usually lasts. And as for the technique, I use crochet as a way to honour and remember the elderly neighbour, Ayşe Teyze, who not only accompanied me on the dreaded trips to the pharmacy, but who so kindly taught me how to crochet. Ultimately, I want A Period Piece to be a symbol of pride in one’s growth journey and this significant milestone. By creating this work, I am, albeit years later, celebrating my own experiences as a young girl. Most importantly, I want to bring much-needed attention to the reality of period poverty as an incredibly significant social justice issue that impacts many young girls and women globally. @azade21 www.azadehmonzavi.net