“You are in the most
literal sense cosmic.”
Bill Bryson, The Body: A Guide for Occupants
“Unpacked, you are positively enormous.
Your lungs smoothed out, would cover a tennis court, and the airways within them would stretch nearly from coast to coast.
The length of all your blood vessels would take you two and a half times around Earth.
The most remarkable part of all is your DNA. You have a meter of it packed into every cell, and so many cells that if you formed all the DNA in your body into a single strand, it would stretch ten billion miles, to beyond Pluto.
Think of it: there is enough of you to leave the solar system. “
But why don’t I feel that way?
Recent survey results by Skin & Soul Art Website in Selangor.
62% of people reported having a difficult relationship with their bodies.
Only 2% said it’s wonderful.
Why do we often feel so disconnected from our bodies,
even though we are made up of the same stardust as the rest of the universe?
Pseudoscientific ideas about hair were used to support racist beliefs in the 19th century. I can't comprehend how we're still adhering to the belief that hair is a marker of human evolution.
Skin-brightening creams like Fair & Lovely reveal the dark side of the beauty industry and still capitalizing on ideas of racial hierarchies.
Watson Malaysia has received backlash over its racist advertising in 2017 for its "Legenda Cun Raya" campaign. It featured Malaysia's biggest personalities.
Victoria's Secret MY visually chose to exclude darker-skinned models. They also erased all comments from the public that demanded justification for this "inclusive" ad.
Victoria's Secret's latest campaign,
"Be Authentic, Be You," is a bold claim.
But can we really be ourselves if we are only represented as fair, thin, and conventionally attractive?
The fashion, beauty and media industry has a long history of erasing women of color, plus-size women, and women with disabilities from their visuals.
These brands have created a narrow definition of beauty that excludes the majority of women.
As a result, many women feel like they can't be themselves. They feel like they have to conform to an unrealistic standard of beauty in order to be accepted.
But we don't have to accept this.
We can create our own visuals that celebrate our own unique beauty. We can share our stories and our voices.
We are worthy of being seen and heard.
We need to stop buying into the visual poison that is being sold to us.
Stop buying products that are based on these unrealistic standards.
Sikit-sikit kita stop sapot, lama-lama jadi bukit babe.
How much are you contributing to this
RM 13,240,000,000.00?
What if we could redistribute this money
to causes we care about?
What kind of harmonious world could we create?
Instead, we can reinvest our money in supporting businesses that are owned and operated by women.
Community care is about creating spaces where everyone feels welcome and included.
Community care and self-care are two sides of the same coin. Taking care of yourself will help you be more effective in your work and more resilient in the face of challenges.
Discover the Joy
of Community Care & Self-Care
15-17 September 2023Meet New Kawans
15th Sept
9-11 PM
Online Meeting.
A casual hang-out session to introduce ourselves, our passion, dreams,
and concerns for our community. '
Everyone is welcome.
Join us for free, and share your journey with us.
Let’s get things off our chest collectively.
Working with the Community
16th Sept
2-7 PM
Venue: Hush Theatre, TTDI
Identify needs and learn the framework required to create a project with few resources. Go back with a plan!
Suitable for the ones with semangat membara to help the community and make a difference but don’t know where to start.
Being Realistic about Self-Care
17th Sept
2-7 PM
Venue: Hush Theatre, TTDI
Not for the faint-hearted. This workshop will be using esoteric methods to confront ways we have been neglecting ourselves.
Fit for everyone who’s been doing inner work and is ready to be accountable for their journey.
Join to support and nourish your body.
Claim Your Cosmic Creative Power
Understand the need to prioritize your individual expression,
by honoring the creative impulse that moves us to service our community.
Hello soul warriors,
I’m Rupa.
In 2017, my body painting photographs, "This Body is Mine" featuring Indian classical dancers garnered global attention, gaining two million views globally.
It was a tongue-in-cheek response to threats against Indian women during the Thaipusam festival, where I used ancient feminist archetypes from Hinduism to counter the narrative and defend women's body autonomy.
However, the media branded me as an "angry feminist," leading to cyber-harassment and backlash.
Too bad that couldn’t stop me though. The following year, I interviewed and body painted 30 women in 30 days during an art residency (2018), curating the "Abort the Stigma" art exhibition to support safe abortion (2019), and publishing a web documentary on non-consensual dissemination of intimate images (2020).
Join me. Let us create more joyful spaces to bless this distance between us.