The Cut

In 2011,  I founded in Cape Town the Gugu Women Lab (Gugu is the lovely name for the township of Gugulethu-Cape Town), a collective of South African and immigrant women.  I worked for many years with immigrants from different backgrounds (asylum seekers, refugees, labor immigrants) in different countries, using writing as a possible pattern to lead back to people’s identity. Migrating means also, dislocation, solitude, isolation, displacement and this causes a big impact on people’s identity.  This time I wanted to involve different women in a writing project aimed to promote human rights. Words are never neutral, so when we write we take action. I meant to create an opportunity to reflect on the power of imagination and creativity within a context of human rights.

Of course South Africa was the right place where to start this project, which I hope to continue in other countries. With all its past history of limitations, oppressions, and violation of human rights and in the present context where the country is still looking for its own identity, I felt was the perfect set to write and create something creative which could lead people to a wider reflection on human rights. During our weekly sessions, we all became aware that some of the participants  had undergone FGM and we decided to work on this experience.  During my work at the Gugu Women Lab, I've lived one of the most uplifting professional and human experiences I 've ever done. Writing and reflecting on civil rights, reading and confronting ideas, exchanging point of views and backgrounds about the changes of the society on a global scale, has been such a huge experience that it would look limited trying to describe it in few words.  Our work has lead us on many paths, one of these where FGM. Female Genital Mutilation  is an issue that concerns women on a world scale, it's not just a small issue, it relates to many diffrent cultures and people, not only over the African Continent but Europe, USA, Asia, Australia, Southa America.  Out of the work we did along one year, the result has been "THE CUT - Voices from the night", a performance which uses the language of theatre, poetry, music and dance to raise awarenss on FGM.

During 2013 I've brought "THE CUT - Voices from the night" all over Italy with actress Nella Bozzano and different musicians and dancers. 
Now from october to december I will shot a film - documentary on FGM together with documentarist Lorenzo Moscia. The aim of the project is to tell FGM through a narrative way, where true stories are told through the language of art. The project Breaking  The Cut is part of a crowd funding project here. You can be the producer of it supporting it.

TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THE CUT

TO KNOW MORE ABOUT  BREAKING THE CUT PROJECT

TO SUPPORT AND BE CO- PRODUCER OF OUR FILM DOCUMENTARY AND BE INVOLVED IN OUR AWARENESS CAMPAIGN ON FGM FOLLOW INTSTRUCTION HERE

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