On Thursday, my husband and I were able to attend the Cesarean Voices art exhibit’s opening event. We had a wonderful time. It was great to finally see the faces and hear the voices of the women I knew on the internet for years.
The art was powerful. It was amazing to see it all in one place. Being there, seeing in every work of art, a woman, one who understood how I felt about my own cesarean, and expressing these intimate feelings so openly, was an incredible feeling. It made me feel at peace. All the stories, the pain, and the emotion in one room… it had my eyes welling with tears more than once.
I finally had the pleasure of meeting Barbara Stratton, chapter leader of ICAN of Baltimore, and Tiffany Avrill, the curator (that did an awesome job), who also had a few amazing pieces in the exhibit herself. Tiffany is also in the process of creating a website for the exhibit. You can see all the art on the site, so if you could not make it to Baltimore, you should definitely check it out (though the site is still under construction, so it may not be accessible at the moment; It should be shortly).
Guest speaker Anne Isreal, a prenatal yoga teacher who is also a member of Lamaze International, gave a great speech. Of course she discussed Lamaze practices and philosophy, but she also spoke about her recent trip to Beijing, China where she worked with others to help bring childbirth classes to the women there. She told us a story of an obstetrician from Brazil whom she encountered while on The Great Wall. This OB told her she “loved” the cesarean, it was easy and safer “for her”, or course.
The local news was there covering the event. I was one of the artists that was interviewed for their evening news. You can read the article here. Unfortunately there is no video of the segment that aired, but to be honest, seeing myself on TV once was hard enough. 🙂
The turnout was great, Marsden Wagner even showed up for a bit. There were some women there who had not had children yet, and I think that was wonderful. I was pleased to see this exhibit — our stories — reaching outside the realm of the “mother”, and speaking to all women, and men. There was one man who attended who did know anyone personally who had had a cesarean, but still wanted to come and see the exhibit, even asking Barbara how he could help her ICAN chapter. How wonderful is that?
The Cesarean Voices exhibit is so important, and I hope it travels the country far and wide, opening even more eyes. I am excited to see what the future holds not only for the exhibit, but for the stigma of “just another way to have a baby” that seems to center around cesareans. The “just a cesarean” mentality is damaging and not accurate for everyone, and just one visit to this exhibit will scream that from the rooftops, loud and clear.
What a wonderful experience!
As an artist and 2 time c-section survivor, I’d love to participate in an exhibit like this!
If Tiffany ever does another show; I’d really be interested in creating some art for it!
Hi Michele! I was at the exhibit, too! I probably saw you there. Is that first photo of your piece? Its beautiful! I was walking around taking a lot of photos, which I’m going to post on my blog soon. I’ll link back here to your great post! Best Wishes
[…] Cut has posted a reflection on her visit to the first-ever Cesarean Voices art exhibit presented by ICAN of […]
Thank you so much for posting your recap!
(and, um, I totally did not know about this blog until tonight – where has this been hiding? I’m still hanging around your old one.)
Thank you so much for posting this! I am late in discovering it, but it is wonderful that you got photos of some of the artwork. It looks like they had a beautiful display. 🙂
[…] in Baltimore, Maryland. What is new is the photo I found of one of my drawings taken by Michele at BirthCut. She was lucky enough to visit the exhibit and I was lucky enough that she liked my drawing enough […]
I’ve been waiting to see pictures of the exhibit! I was shocked to see my “Operation OB” artwork here on your blog!
Your website was my rock (along with ICAN) when I was going through PTSD after my unwanted and unnecessary c-section in 2006. I found comfort knowing I wasn’t alone. My son and I suffered during those painful and dark couple months. The words “at least you have a healthy baby” always were echoing in my head from family and friends. I felt so alone confused…thinking; “maybe I’m the only woman out there hating my c-section?” It was so relieved to know I wasn’t the only mother out there feeling horrible about my c-section.
I’ve gone on to VBAC my second son in May 2009. My second son was only a ½ oz smaller than my first. I’ll never forget the words the OB that attended my VBAC said to me the next day on her rounds. “Your first c-section was totally uncalled for….you weren’t given a fair trial of labor.” I used to feel sad when I looked at my scar……….now I just feel angry.