Prizewinning exhibit about abortion opens at Foto Colectania

Foto Colectania in Barcelona opens an exhibition called ‘On Abortion’ on Thursday, which recently won a prize in the prestigious Rencontres d'Arles photography festival.

The exhibit is the result of Laia Abril's investigation into abortion in the world, visually documenting the dangers and damage to women without access to legal and safe abortions.

Using photographs, objects, videos and installations, Abril's project tracks the erosion of women's reproductive rights up to the present day.

First instalment of larger project

‘On Abortion’ is the first part of a longer photography project called ‘A History of Misogyny,’ the second instalment of which is currently in preparation and which will deal with rape.

Despite the existence of safe and efficient means of abortion, many women around the world are still forced to resort to primitive, risky and illegal abortion methods.

47,000 women die every year

It is estimated that some 47,000 women around the world die every year due to a lack of access to safe abortions, a figure that led Abril to begin her investigations.

“I wasn't aware of the seriousness of the consequences of not having access to abortion, with thousands of women dying, ending up in prison, or forced to become mothers," Abril told the Catalan News Agency (ACN).

"Political" art, not activism

While admitting that her project is "political," Abril insists her work is not activism, and she says it very much belongs to "the world of visual art" rather than that of journalism.

"The images I use manipulate the viewer so that when they leave the exhibition, or read the book, they are motivated to think or talk about the issue," she said.