Every Body's Story: an Exhibition About Body Positivity

EXHIBITION

I created the Every Body’s Story project to promote body positivity in Hanoi. On January 3rd I opened a 10 day exhibition featuring the stories of 42 women.

By Ellen Downes
Mon 27 Jan 2020

Ifirst had my body cast at Shambala Festival in 2014. When I saw my cast lined up next to other women’s it was the first time that I realised that my perception of how I looked compared to other women was warped. I made me see that all the body shapes in front of me were completely unique, and equally beautiful.

This summer artist Seana Wilson taught me how to body cast and I got practising doing friends’ casts. Every time I did one a new story came out about the friend’s relationship with their body and there was a powerful moment when they saw their cast for the first time. It got me thinking about the fact that all our bodies have a story and that there just aren’t enough spaces for us to share them and to tell each other that we’re not alone.

I created the Every Body’s Story project to promote body positivity in Hanoi. On January 3rd I opened a 10 day exhibition featuring the stories of 42 women. These women were either cast by me or photographed by the wonderful artist Maartje Matheeuwsen.

Each women’s story of their relationship with their body was featured as part of the exhibit. Over 100 people came to the opening night and the reaction of people in the space was beautiful. It felt like we created a space for important conversations. Conversations about unrealistic beauty standards, prejudice, body positivity and celebrating diversity.