Visual storytelling has been valued throughout history. When words are no longer enough, art can evoke feelings in people that begin conversations surrounding touchy subjects. On Thursday, Oct. 24, Spanish artist Carles Garcia O’Dowd emphasized the connections between art and oral stories in his workshop at the Homer Babbidge Library.
Addressing various humanitarian issues over the course of his career, O’Dowd is most famous for his piece, Projecte Úter. Projecte Úter is a poster of collective scenes that stress the importance of reproductive rights and bodily autonomy. Inspired by the proposed 2014 abortion bans in Spain, O’Dowd and his creative partner, Tonina Matamalas, were determined to contribute to the retaliation efforts. Influenced by the punk culture he loved in his youth, while grabbing elements from more prestigious art, O’Dowd explained that he wanted to create an image similar to those by “The Beehive Collective:” a volunteer organization O’Dowd previously worked alongside, which produces narrative graphic campaigns.
The event was briefed with the history of abortion laws in Spain, as well as by O’Dowd explaining his creative process. However, the bulk of the workshop was spent creating community and discussing the piece together. In O’Dowd’s words, Projecte Úter is a “slow digestion image.” The poster is not made to be understood in a glance but requires effort from its audience to dissect its imagery. It was also designed to be accompanied by a storyteller, clarifying and expanding on the audience’s initial interpretations.
Modeled after the uterus and fallopian tubes, Projecte Úter is pictured as a cave-like structure, representing the labyrinth of individual stories that create the collective whole. After meeting with people who had experiences with abortion and speaking to doctors who had performed them, O’Dowd did not want merely a single voice to be heard. Instead of depicting people in this piece, animals are used to avoid stereotypes and misrepresentation. As O’Dowd shared, each of the animals pictured are used as derogatory terms against women, especially in the Spanish language. As many groups have done, O’Dowd and Matamalas decided to reclaim these terms and use them for empowerment and awareness.
Spreading awareness through difficult conversations was made much easier when O’Dowd split the audience into smaller groups, each assigned with analyzing a scene from the poster. The groups were tasked with working together to examine the minuscule details representing a specific subject or scenario. Though overwhelming at first, people were laughing and smiling as they attempted to understand the madness on the page in front of them. Professors and students alike came together to use their best judgement to decipher the segments.
Minal Faheem, a sixth-semester psychology major expressed, “I honestly had no idea what to expect … but within 10 minutes I was really entertained by hearing all of the different metaphors of the animals and just how intricate it all was. I see why this had to be two and a half hours, which would usually bore me, but I was having a really good time.”
O’Dowd made his way to each of the groups, asking their thoughts on their portion of the poster and giving hints at what he was trying to say in those scenes. He spoke passionately about each of the parts as if the project were his own child. By the end of the workshop, each group was asked to share their interpretations in chronological order, with O’Dowd finally telling the story of the entire poster as it moved along.
As the event was wrapping up and the audience got to the final scene, O’Dowd explained that Projecte Úter concludes with a celebration of life and diversity. Animals that give birth or become parents in different ways are shown to express that there is no one way to live life. People who have a uterus come in different shapes and forms and are as complex as the biodiversity of the ocean, hence why O’Dowd chose a scene plentiful with sea creatures to hone in on this idea. Setting limits and regulations on what people do with their bodies is harmful and education, rather than restriction, should become the new norm.
Leaving the workshop feeling empowered to speak up, audience members raved about how personable O’Dowd was. He made a typically uncomfortable topic become humorously intriguing.
Kianna Williams, a first-semester political science major stated, “I actually enjoyed [the presentation] way more than I thought I would, and I’m glad I went today. At the discussion there were a lot of opinions and ideas I had never thought of before, and I feel like I have a new perspective on women and our experiences with the reproductive system and abortion in general. I am excited that I learned more and can tell other people about what I heard today.”
What could have easily been a drag of a presentation was instead an insightful and inspiring experience for those who were able to attend. O’Dowd kept the essential conversation of abortion continuing through his love and talents for visual art and storytelling.