I AM A VULVA is an ongoing multidisciplinary project by Effie Emmanouilidi. The artist wrote the VULVA MANIFESTO and the work she produces is based on it and highlights the multiple identities and the power of femininity, a power overshadowed and silenced in heteronormative conditions.

I AM A VULVA seeks to focus on the under-representation of femininity that prevails in society, in the same way that feminist art collectives have tried to in the past. This project invites the public to wonder why femininity is something so systematically underestimated in the contemporary world, but also to realize its existence through the values and qualities that constitute it. The project aspires to describe heteronormativity as a means of marginalization and stigmatization in divergent forms of sexuality, gender and self-expression. In Greece, similar concerns have been at the center of discussions, especially since the numerous femicides the past couple of years.

I AM SOFT, I AM STRONG. WHAT AM I?

Growing up, all of us have seen funny sketches of male genitals in schools, on the streets, everywhere.

However, female genitals are more of a taboo topic, and in a larger scale, this is a reflection of how society percieves femininity. The aim of this project is to change that. By using the vulvas as a form of expression, I visualize the femininity that exists inside all of us, no matter our gender or sex. The femininity that is often socially undervalued, or seen as weakness.

This project aims to emphasize the feminine around us, as seen in nature and people. Therefore, the ceramic vulvas are not very descriptive, they often look like flowers, shells, or other natural elements.