> Exhibition of Art Myers' Photographs - october 2009

Exhibition of Art Myers' Photographs at Tenon Hospital, Paris,
from 15 - 30 October 2009

The Tenon Hospital Multimedia Library (médiathèque) is showing the work of Art Myers, American photographer and doctor, punctuated with numerous sensitive, personal texts.

Entrance free

Monday - Wednesday - Thursday, from 13h to 17h

Tuesday and Friday from 10h to 17h

rue de la Chine- Métro Gambetta

> Perspectives on Amazons of our times - march 2009

Perspectives on Amazons of our times
Breast Cancer: reconstructive surgery, who for, what for?

March 6th 2009 in Villejuif, in partnership with Cancer Campus.

This conference was very successful.
For the first time, Amazons spoke publicly to share their experience. Their testimonies changed the audience's and the speakers' outlook on them.

The vox pop film by Lillian Stirling and Annick Parent aroused many emotions. One very positive fact to bear in mind: none of the young men inteviewed - aged 17 to 25 - responded negatively to the photograph of a bare-chested Amazon.

The audience was also deeply touched by the photographic work of Mary Mandy.

The various papers given by specialists from different fields (surgeon, sociologist, jurist, doctor, photographer...) led to new perspectives on the issue of the asymmetric body and of so-called "reconstructive" surgery.

Extracts :

« Hide this cut breast which I refuse to see »
Amazonian ritual and the history of a forbidden image
Dr.Dominique Gros

Although most women who have had a mastectomy are more concerned with the fear that their cancer may recur than with the loss of their breast, they tend to feel stigmatised by that loss. Society tells them, « Hide this cut breast...it disturbs us... ».
The Amazonian torso is a forbidden image. Socially, the Amazon is not accepted. Amazonism is too revolutionary. It upsets the established order of patriarchal societies. The Amazon embodies the world upside-down. (...)
It's a matter of fighting against the simplistic and destructive attitude in which mastectomy equals the loss of womanhood. Feminine identity involves much more than a pair of breasts. (...)
The public exhibition of an Amazonian torso - be it painted or sculpted and all the more so when photographed - is a forbidden image.

Dr.Dominique Gros is Senologist at Strasbourg University Hospital (C.H.U. Strasbourg), his writings include : Cancer du sein Entre raison et sentiments (Springer), Le sein dévoilé (Stock), Les seins aux fleurs rouges (Stock)
www.springer.com

"An Amazon's body, a body of resistance"
David Le Breton

Using the term Amazon amounts to turning the stigma of cancer and its consequences into a favourable war metaphor, namely that of the Amazon who takes the decision to have her breast removed to reinforce her commitment to the struggle. The Amazon moves from the status of victim to become an active player of her life. She rejects the status imposed by others and claims her enduring womanhood with the addditional asset of asserted resistance. An Amazon is not easily taken in. She constructs her sense of identity through her own personal history which, while remaining unchanged for the most part, is always incomplete, always in the process of being transformed, depending on the circumstances of life.

David le Breton, Professor of Sociology at the University of Strasbourg, is a member of the Institut Universitaire de France. His writings include : Anthropologie de la douleur (Métailié), La chair à vif. De la leçon d’anatomie aux greffes d’organes (Métailié), Anthropologie du corps et modernité (PUF), Du silence (Métailié), La saveur du monde. Une anthropologie des sens (Métailié), Eloge de la marche (Métailié).
Anthropology of Pain (Métailié), Bared Flesh. From Anatomy Lessons to Organ Donations (Métailié), Anthropology of the Body and Modernity (Métailié), The Flavour of the World. An Anthropology of the Senses. (Métailié), In Praise of Walking (Métailié)


Translated by Agnès Fourtané

> Exhibition “les amazones s'exposent” in Paris - october 2008

As a result of its success, the Mairie de Paris (Town Hall of Paris) extended the exhibition for a week in the context of the Campaign Against Breast Cancer in Paris. Around fifty photographs, paintings, sculptures as well as powerful texts led to the discovery of modern-day Amazons.

Extracts from the Visitors' Book :

Amazons :
« Magnificent exhibition which helps me on my way to acceptance. Thank you very much. » « Beautiful exhibition which touches me all the more because in a few days' time, I too will also have one breast less. Having seen these images, I feel confident.» « Thank you for this exhibition which gives each 'asymmetrical' woman the taste for fully living life with her difference. I'm going to be operated again, and thanks to this exhibition I will be much more serene no matter what the outcome. » « An Amazon for only a short time, I'm still searching for an identity. Thank you for this exhibition which makes me want to continue. » « I was all the more touched because my mother has this cancer. I have 'finally' been able to feel what she has gone through : the mastectomy, as she never talks about it. Thank you for having had the idea of talking about these Amazons who are all around us. » (An Amazon's daughter)

Professionals :
« Being confronted with Amazons in my daily work as a radiographer, I find the work you have done extraordinary. For all these women and their partners, for health care workers, I dare to write, Thank you. » (Radiographer)

Visitors :
« This exhibition is remarkable. These 'forbidden' words and images lead us to the importance of the poetic beauty of life. Thank you. » « Bravo! An invigorating exhibition through its profound tenderness, uncompromising vision, humour. What a lesson for living! » « Revelation! Magnificent. Thank you for opening our eyes and heart! » « Moving testimony and magnificent proof of life. Thanks to the photographers and models. Women in my family lived this experience in secret. » « An excellent exhibition that provides many insights. As a man, it helps me to feel a woman’s loss and process, and allows me to feel how to feel and relate as a potential companion with the many women who have this experience. Thank you.» 
 « Thank you very much. Touching, honest, sincere. All these women are extremely beautiful in my eyes. »

> Exhibition “les amazones s'exposent” Grand Duchy of Luxemburg - october 2008

Europa Donna (the European Coalition Against Breast Cancer) presented the exhibition in an attractive setting (Galerie Konschthaus Beim Engel) in the Old Town. The Ministry of Health backed the project and everything was organised with great competence by Branka Djordjevic and Astrid Scharpantgen.

It was the courage of the women who posed that was mainly highlighted by the remarks in the Visitors’ Book.

Extracts :
“I didn’t see what didn’t exist any more, I saw what is, what exists. I was attracted by the expression in the eyes, this serenity (…) I’m impressed by the words, the progression of these women. A very lovely sharing.” Claire.

“A lot of emotion in crossing the rooms. We congratulate all the participants of this project. Bravo. All the best!” Muriel and Stéphane.