Illustrations by Sioejeng Tsao
Bloody Beautiful
BLOODY BEAUTIFUL is a movement aimed at normalising conversations about menstruation & menopause. Everyone is invited. Stories that are normally hidden or even taboo are celebrated in all their glory. Let’s explode some of the tired old myths and conditionings about bodies.
Part of our goal is to creatively propagate new public narratives about menstruation and menopause in a gender-forward way. Not every person who menstruates identifies as a woman and we feel it’s critical to include queer and trans dialogue on the topic of periods, which is often relegated and marginalised in public forums.
Part of this work is to evolve our own thinking and vocabulary on bodies that do and don’t bleed. BLOODY BEAUTIFUL invites collaborations with artists and technologists from around the world – some of whom are brand new to audiences – in order to open space for fresh voices in the creative expression of this topic.
YOU are invited to participate in BLOODY BEAUTIFUL through our Gossip Sessions. These public gatherings feature key artists and technologists working in the field. Read about our previous gossip sessions below or sign up to our mailing list for news of upcoming sessions.
Bloody Beautiful Festival
02 + 03.10.2025
Doka & Tolhuistuin, Amsterdam
Past Events 2025
3 June 2025 - Effenaar, Eindhoven
We’re prototyping a completely new BLOODY BEAUTIFUL project: Hot Flash Dance Clash. A unique dance party that highlights the experiences of people with menstrual cycles. We invited dancers, femtech enthusiasts, coders and designers to a (sneak preview) play test of Hot Flash Dance Clash at Effenaar in Eindhoven.
23 May 2025 - Amsterdam Museum as part of AM Late: Vrouwen van Amsterdam
In this unique collaboration between BLOODY BEAUTIFUL and the Amsterdam Museum, we paid homage to some of the first Dutch women who documented and shared their experiences of menstruation. We delved into a rarely seen archive of letters, collected and preserved by feminist Elly Brink between 1970 and 1980, and later rediscovered by curator Debra Knoop.
23 April 2025 - Independent School for the City, Rotterdam
This gossip session explored the design of living and working environments for menstruators beyond Earth. Situated within a feminist praxis—reclaiming gossip as a source of knowledge sharing—the event examined the then-current status of menstruation in outer space, led by architect Thaïs Zuchetti and former NASA space gynaecologist Dr Varsha Jain.
17 May 2025 - Dutch Pavillion, Osaka, Japan
In 2025, BLOODY BEAUTIFUL continued its global mission with outreach and creative networking meetups in Japan – guided by collaborator Sputniko! We explored how our work could offer another platform for storytelling and expression in Japan by connecting diverse worlds of femtech, academia, art, and menstrual equity community groups into one shared mission.
28 March 2025 - Tai Kwun,
Hong Kong
Even in 2025, images of period blood and menstruating avatars are banned in metaverse environments. affect lab took this as an urgent call for digital inclusivity – to celebrate menstruating bodies in the metaverse – and Bleeding into the Metaverse was born. In March 2025, it was commissioned by Tai Kwun Contemporary for Artists’ Night (in partnership with Art Basel) in Hong Kong.
Past Events 2023-24
18 January 2024 - Independent School for the City, Rotterdam
In this gossip session we highlighted the relationship between menstrual stigma and the built environment. With architect Molly Hughes, community organiser Tammy Sheldon and researcher Mayim Frieden.
21 March 2024 - Netherlands Embassy in Tokyo
In our first international presentation of Bloody Beautiful, affect lab and SPUTNIKO! exchanged insights and inspiration for how art can impact menstruation and menopause rights.
14 June 2023 - Tempel, Amsterdam
A gossip session celebrating menopause with artist Petra Kroon, presenter Milouska Meulens and menopause coach Desirée van Cleef.
18 July 2023 - Paradiso, Amsterdam
A gossip session in support of menstruation rights for all female & queer bodies in the Metaverse with Japanese artist and femtech pioneer Sputniko! (Hiro Ozaki).
12 October 2023 - W139, Amsterdam
In this gossip session we explored the myths, magic and science of menstruating bodies with artist Annika Kappner and femtech CEO Isabelle Guenou.
31 October 2024 - Tolhuistuin, Amsterdam
A gossip session where we explored how cultural myths, biases, and stereotypes about menopause are sustained.
21 & 28 November, 2023 - affect lab, Amsterdam
In this two-part workshop produced in collaboration with Radical Data, we used queer theory to explore alternative self-tracking techniques, in a move away from mainstream menstrual tracking apps.
This project is kindly supported by Creative Industries Fund NL, AFK, Vriendenloterij and Cultuurloket DigitALL.