Sexuality and Spirituality
When I’m not being an eco warrior, I’m a vagina warrior. Working for Sex and Sensibilities has been INCREDIBLE. We’re about to conclude our ART-H Mandala Making contest in UP Diliman.
Jam and I saw a lot of mandalas when we were in Nepal (read more about our adventures in his article on Philippine Star entitled “From here to Kathmandu”). They were on postcards (sent one to Australia!), large pieces of cloth and walls. Mandalas are reflections of the spiritual self because they offer a unique and powerful way to self-discovery and healing through the use of imagery, symbolism, color and balance.
For the ART-H contest, we required the participants to attend a primer where Ana gave a sexual health workshop and Prof. Lakan delivered a mandala making workshop. The students were expected to create their final designs using condoms and pills based on what they learned from the primer and explain the relationship between their designs and related issues on informed choice, reproductive health, gender equality, etc.
The UP students, being UP students, went beyond what they were asked to do. They arrived armed with sketches, additional research, extra adhesives and lots of ideas. After three hours of cutting, gluing and working together, they came up with the following products:
UP Samahan sa Agham Pampulitika
UP Artists’ Circle Sorority
UP Circle of Industrial Engineering Majors
College of Fine Arts Visual Communication students
UP Association of Political Science Majors
UP Social Science and Philosophy Student Council
You may read the groups’ respective explanations AND vote for your favorite mandala by clicking “Like” in this album. Make sure you “Like” the Sex and Sensibilities page first! Behind the scenes pictures here.
Since I’m the Project Manager for this contest, the leftover condoms and birth control pills are with me. My room now looks like a haven for safe sex.
Many thanks to our sponsor, DKT Reproductive Health and our UP-based partner RH AGENDA for making this possible!
