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Vulva Art: An Embodied Palimpsest. How does Vulva Art graffiti represent, subvert and impact women embodiment through its use as an embodied palimpsest?

Women embodiment, has been a topic of feminist discussion for decades. The bodies’ ability to represent and challenge oppressive systems, allowed corporality to be used to deconstruct women’s ‘lived experiences’. Visual communicative practices, like graffiti, can hold the same concepts. This is emphasised by its consideration as an embodied palimpsest – or ability to transfer many layered messages through author, viewer and environment. Feminist graffiti practitioners use this idea to depict and challenge aspects of women embodiment in their outputs. Use of nude or genital imagery, such as Vulva Art graffiti, is a popular method.

The main objective was to visualise and analyse women embodiment, via an archival of Vulva Art graffiti and appliance of embodied palimpsest. The second was to archive a temporary communicative form. Both seek to provide a visible and accessible platform to publicly marginalised, and often unnoticed themes of women embodiment and feminist graffiti.

Vulva art graffiti in Basel was found and organised using archival and data visualisation via critical mapping. This outcome was a digital archive with an interactive map at its centre.
Basel, 2021