It is said that art is the best medium of expression and artist Raj Kamal Aich takes to art in protest of the 12% GST on sanitary napkins.
His magnificent artwork illustrates blood-soaked tampons and sanitary napkins and he has indeed left the world spellbound with this bold and beautiful not-so-conventional ‘period project’.
The recent implementation of 12% GST on sanitary napkins by the Central Government has resulted in an increase in the prices of the same.
It is said to be an apparently ridiculous move on part of the Indian Government for no taxes were levied on ‘sanskaari’ items like, bindi, or sindoor and also so-not-sanskaari items like, condoms. Questioning this discrepancy Artist Raj Kamal Aich sighs, “Why sanitary napkins and not condoms or bindi or sindoor? It is beyond my comprehension.” And we can only add that it is actually beyond ‘our’ comprehension for the matter.
He further stated in a recent interview, “It is ridiculous and insensitive of the govt to tax women for bleeding. I’ve only recently realised how expensive pads and tampons are. It may be convenient for urban people to shell out Rs 100 or Rs 160 for a box of tampons or pads, but what about rural women?
What about our maids?”
Aich intended to generalise the notions about the unconventional topic of periods. Breaking all taboos he re-imagined the blood soaked tampons as everyday objects of mundane life that he presents through his exceptionally creative art project.
It is through his powerfully bold artwork that he tries to convey that periods happen to be an intrinsic part of a woman’s life while questioning this 12% GST on sanitary napkins.
Aich had wanted to create something in a way that hadn’t been done before. He came across this idea during the time of World Menstrual Hygiene Day which was on the 28th of May. He wanted to do something with real sanitary pads and tampons which have never been considered as objects of art or creativity. It was during the times of research that he realised that the Indian government was on the way to impose 12% GST on sanitary napkins and this left him disappointed to the core.
He voices his opinion through this outrageously bold project that depicts art with blood strained tampons and sanitary pads. The depiction of period blood with red in usually avoided in the public sphere and is supposedly considered grossly impure. When asked about the same, he says, “There is nothing gross about period blood and I wanted to send across that message. I had no other choice but to use red ink because I feel so strongly about this project”.
Raj Kamal Aich concludes by saying, “If you really love your woman, having her period is what makes her a woman and if you think she is beautiful then this is (period blood) is also beautiful.”
Thank You Mr. Raj Kamal Aich for such a brilliant project and we hope that this successfully yields some positive results.
