MASAYA
Community project to raise awareness of the female collective
MASAYA is a community project that aims to raise awareness of the female collective and how it can be used as a supportive and transformative tool for all woman and in particular for survivors of sexual violence.
This project searches creative answers to these questions:
What does it mean to be a woman in today’s society? What is our individual and collective vision for the future? And what power can be drawn from standing together as a collective?
MASAYA is a long term project committed to spread the empowered vision of women and through doing so we hope she will help plant the seed for change.
DIRECTION
Natalia Varela
MASK WORKSHOPS
Belén L.Yáñez
VOCAL WORKSHOPS
Laura Guarch
BODY SCULPTURE WORKSHOPS
Sarah Cassidy
DANCER
Macarena Ortúzar
VIDEO AND VISUAL
Rocio H.Valentín
PHOTOGRAPHER
Kirsty Cox
FUNDRISING SUPPORT
Helena Teira
COMMUNICATION ADVISOR
Amelia Hernandez
CURATORIAL ADVISOR
Kimberlie Birks
MASAYA MASKS
Masks are wonderful tools. As with everything that MASAYA does, the masks are created collectively. Participants are presented with a series of blank masks and asked to reflect on a power or strength of womanhood with which they would like to connect or reconnect. Each woman then begins by decorating a small portion of the mask before passing it to the next participant to continue to develop. The mask creation process is always a unique and extraordinary way to invoke the strengths and powers that women share.
MASAYA has also created mask workshops for mothers and daughters to do together. In these, mothers work with their daughters to create a mask that expresses what they most love about being a girl.
MASAYA COLLECTIVE SCULPTURES
Through a series of movement explorations, MASAYA workshops allow women to explore more deeply by using their bodies to access their subconscious. Exercises encourage participants to reflect on womanhood, their connection to the female collective, and the kind of world they want to create for the next generation of women and girls.
Each person chooses a mask to wear and takes on the task of embodying the attribute that it symbolizes. The brilliance of the mask lies in its ability to give the wearer a sense of both, anonymity and freedom. Through embodying their chosen mask, women step into a newer stronger version of themselves that they can reconnect with long after the workshop ends.
