Hysterical, melodramatic, over-the-top, a bit much; these are comments women and marginalised genders are all too familiar with. Historically used to oppress specific communities, the words are now being reclaimed in a new exhibition, curated by Bee Illustrates and Eliza Hatch (founder of Cheer Up Luv), centring art as activism. The charity exhibition, entitled Hysterical, brings together creatives from multiple disciplines, whose work focuses on issues such as identity, race, sexual harassment, gender, disability, politics and more, to subvert the notion of “hysterical”. All ticket sales from the charity event will be donated to Mermaids and UN Women.

“Throughout history,” Bee Illustrates tells It’s Nice That, “‘hysteria’ has been a condition assigned to women* to explain away behaviours or symptoms that threatened to upset the status quo or made people who benefit from the patriarchy uncomfortable.” Both curators have experienced dismissal in their creative work; Bee Illustrates explains that when Eliza began Cheer Up Luv (a photo series and platform dedicated to retelling stories of sexual harassment) she was met with criticism for highlighting stories that “some deem to be ‘not as serious’ or ‘not that bad’”. Bee Illustrates continues: “Often women* are told to dilute themselves down, become smaller, more passive, and take up less space in order to fit into the box that society has created for them.”

Hysterical instead aims to celebrate women and marginalised genders taking up space, defying stereotypes and challenging constructs of femininity. Another key part of the exhibit is that it highlights creatives using art as a tool for advocacy, “something we interact with a lot on social media, but rarely see in a gallery setting”, says Eliza Hatch.

Source: Itsnicethat.com

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