Educational Art Exhibits

Attention class: welcome to Cliteracy 101! That’s the title of artist Sophia Wallace’s new project, as well as a new phrase she’s coined in order to combat the social, medical, and cultural invisibility of the clitoris, which, as she mentions in an interview with the Huffington Post, was only discovered in 1998. Wallace’s project also wants to dispel popular misconceptions about the clitoris, raise awareness, and make a political statement about the policing of bodies, gender and sexual expression. One of the ways the project does so is with the “100 Natural Laws of Cliteracy”, a massive art installation that features a six-foot neon Cliteracy sign suspended over a 10-by-13 wall of Natural Laws. In other words, Wallace uses the language of natural law to cover a multitude of different areas pertaining to the clitoris, from scientific stats to historical information to pop culture references. My favourite reads: “Democracy without Cliteracy? Phallusy” (How Punny). The Natural Laws exhibit is just one of many facets that the Cliteracy project encompasses, but is definitely one to check out, if only for its educational value. Readers will certainly be surprised to hear some of these facts, including that the clitoris is 9-12 cm long and 6cm wide, and that there are newer surgeries being implemented to restore the devastating effects of genital mutilation.

Implications - Sophia Wallace uses art as a medium for a political statement about the societal limitation of bodies and engages the audience in a conversation about freedom, sexuality and the liberation of pleasure.