Uma Bista

“I was confined for twelve days. Restricted from going out into the sunlight, from seeing any male family members. Filled with fear and uncertainty. I still remember those days and nights, my eyes fixed on the ceiling while rays of light came and went. This was my first period. It took time to grasp the taboo surrounding menstruation––I’m still trying to understand it.” Uma Bista draws from her personal experience to create a photo essay in which she visualizes the psychological consequences of Chhaupadi—a Hindu custom, technically illegal, but practised in certain areas of Nepal, according to which, menstruating women are made to isolate themselves, and lead a secluded existence in a hut away from their homes.

Bista examines the effects of this practice on the physical health and mental well-being of young girls and women. Through the photos, she raises significant questions about the enduring psychological trauma that young women experience because of the ritual, inherited and passed down through different generations. She also interrogates the ensuing and ongoing conflict between older women, who zealously uphold these customs, and younger women, who want to defy the restrictive bounds of such superstitious rules.

Her work Stay Home, Sisters —which finds itself at the intersection of documentary and staged photography—records a therapeutic process, allowing her to examine a personal and traumatic issue through visual media. Significantly, the project also paves the way for crucial conversations that challenge prevalent socio-cultural taboos surrounding menstruation.

The work of Uma Bista is part of the group exhibition Space to Breathe, curated by Newsha Tavakolian and on display in the Grote Kerk Breda.