Italian artist raising awareness about sex trafficking in India

The black figure of welded wire mesh instantly grabs one’s attention.

It’s a face albeit with no distinct facial features, there aren’t any arms, and also the core, curiously, is formed from black artificial hair.

This is talented feminist artist and sculptor Janine Von Thungen’s latest installation piece created with an aim to “spread awareness and provides added visibility to the grave issue of sex trafficking”.

To Thungen, the figure represents a young woman, who is cornered within the “rough cloth of wire mesh albeit her soft, pliable core is visible to everyone”. This, per the artist, is how young ladies caught within the racket of sex trafficking are.

Thungen’s installation is a component of a three-piece assortment that she has quite suitably referred to as, ‘Be Aware’.

The inspiration behind them is the work done by well-known activist Ruchira Gupta’s Apne Aap Worldwide, an anti-trafficking organisation based mostly in Delhi.

Thungen says that, many of her colleagues and curators back home strongly discouraged her to use my art as a medium of social activism.

They were convinced that partnering with a non-government organisation to be part of such an awareness building exercise would end up devaluing her art. Yet, she was adamant.

Photo by Sandy Millar on Unsplash (Free for Commercial Use)

Image Reference: https://unsplash.com/photos/KhStXRVhfog