Conversation with the artist Tina Birch Chimenti

For the second in our series of conversations with artists, this afternoon we spent an hour in the company of the Danish artist Tina Birch Chimenti  who was preparing an exhibition of her work to be shown in the workshop of Swietlan Kraczyna

As you can hear in the conversation at the bottom of this article, Tina Birch Chimenti  has brought to Barga some of her recent ceramics and work on paper and which has to be said is not exactly the easiest of themes for viewers to the exhibition  as one of the central themes of her work is the continued practice in some African countries of female infibulationin,  sometimes also known as “pharaonic circumcision”.

Female infibulation, known as Type III female genital mutilation (FGM)—and in some African countries as “pharaonic circumcision”—is the removal of the labia minora (inner lips) and labia majora (outer lips). When the labial tissue heals, it forms a wall of skin and flesh across the vagina and the rest of the pubic area. By inserting a twig or similar before the wound heals, a small hole is created for the passage of urine and menstrual blood. The procedure is usually accompanied by the removal of the clitoris. The legs are bound together for two to four weeks to allow the labia to heal into a barrier. The procedure is usually carried out on young girls before the onset of puberty. – source – Wikipedia

A slightly lighter note was offered at the opening of the exhibition by  Sally Li accompanied by the guitarist Fabio Guazzeli