MAMA: Motherhood around the globe

By Published On: February 2nd, 2012

MAMA: Motherhood Around the Globe is an innovative online exhibition […]

MAMA: Motherhood Around the Globe is an innovative online exhibition by the International Museum of Women featuring the personal stories and artwork of women all over the world. Hoping to highlight the global issues of mothers’ rights, MAMA is campaigning with non-profit partners such as the Christy Turlington-founded Every Mother Counts organization to hold world governments accountable to promises made to the United Nations regarding maternal health. (Read more about the pledge here.)

Eight galleries will be released from January to September 2012, each using the work of journalists, artists, thought leaders, photographers and filmmakers to focus on both cultural and global aspects of motherhood. Utilizing social networking and the Internet as medium for this unprecedented collaboration, the MAMA project will feature video logs from mothers around the world, multi-media art, profiles on mothers’ rights activists and heroes, short stories and much more.

The first gallery, Mama to Be?, explores the universal question of who decides if, how and when a woman has a child. Interviews with 11 mothers from around the world and a chart illustrating the positive and negative factors of family planning show the disparity in cultural expectations of mothers and the contraceptive and sexual health information available to women. A collection of wood sculptures by artist Humaira Abid, titled Breakdown in the Closet, speaks up about the painful and often ignored subject of miscarriage. Thought-leader Kavita N. Ramdas’ essay shows the unequal opportunities of women all around the world, including those in her family’s native country of Pakistan, and asserts that sex education and access to contraceptives will lead to a better life for these mamas.
The hard work and passion put into the exhibition make for a moving and beautiful showcase that will hopefully accomplish its purpose of social change. Check out MAMA: Motherhood Around the Globe online and band with mamas just like yourself for a better future.