About
VILOMAH: Hidden Loss & Untold Futures is an exhibition exploring creative responses to emotional, social, cultural & politically-impacted experiences of pregnancy loss, baby loss & infertility.
The exhibition encompasses all forms of pregnancy/baby loss – infant loss, neonatal loss, stillbirth, termination for medical reasons, abortion, ectopic pregnancy, medical & age-related infertility.
Artists are from across the world, offering works from a variety of disciplines, including painting, photography, digital art, textile, prose, poetry, video/film, multi-sensory media.
There have so far been three editions of the exhibition: April 2023 - Citizens Art Gallery, Wood Green / October 2023 - Royal Free Hospital, Hampstead / October 2024 - Casa Almeida, Caminha, Portugal.
About the organiser: Alice Mary Jelaska Williamson is an artist, musician & trauma-informed, therapeutic-based facilitator and organiser, with a focus on community. She went through the loss of a baby in pregnancy in early 2022 - ‘the subject is close to my heart; sensitivity and compassion is at the core’.
Motivations: These losses are often hidden away and experienced as a taboo subject, which can lead to a loss feeling minimised - bringing added hurt & pain.
As well as a creative & expressive outlet for a difficult subject, this exhibition aims to bring awareness and shed light on the reality of how these losses are experienced across society, culture & history.
‘Vilomah’ [vee-lo-mah] is a Sanskrit word meaning ‘against the natural order’. It is used to describe a parent who has lost a child; for which there is no word in the English language.
The loss is not only the loss of a child but also of imagined futures and family units; loss of celebrations and life experiences; loss of self through trauma, pain & grief; and in many cases loss or erosion of relationships (partners, friends, family) through extreme change and emotional strain.
On top of the emotional impact on individuals, parents and families, there are many layers of societal, cultural, religious and political presumptions/pressures that heavily impact how people can process and share their experiences - bringing feelings of shame, guilt or failure.
And in light of the overturning of Roe v Wade and similar political shifts around the world, there is need for crucial discourse surrounding abortion – a choice we need access to, but not always a simple choice. For the sake of basic human rights and bodily autonomy people should always have the option available; so we need the community structures and understanding to fully support and emotionally hold these decisions - to protect the privacy, physical health & mental/emotional health of those going through it.
The exhibition & events open a channel for expressing, examining & sharing these difficult topics creatively, whilst informing & making space for reflection - with or without lived experience.