Vénus Project

Vénus Project is an artistic action created by Centres d’Art Spacejunk to raise awareness in the fight against breast cancer. The artistic expression allows to approach the subject outside the medical sphere, in a sensitive and non-normative way, by calling upon the subjectivity and the cultural universe of each participant. The relationship with the body that the artistic mediation establishes arouses a reflection and favors enlightened choices concerning the health of women. There are 4 directions in which the project is active: (1) Photoshooting: this takes place in the springtime. Women volunteer to pose bare-chested in front of the camera. The photographs are then printed on canvas and serve as a support for the artistic creations of the artists and women who participate in the workshops; (2) Workshops: The objective of the workshops is to get around the taboos surrounding health and breast cancer screening, and to offer time for collective exchanges with the presence of health professionals. These workshops are set up in Isère, in the Rhône and since 2021 in the Drôme, with social and associative partners; (3) Exhibitions: they bring together the works made by participants and artists during the workshops, in order to raise awareness about breast cancer prevention. The diversity of the works exhibited is an invitation for each spectator to nourish his or her reflection on health; (4) Like a firework, a charity sale of the Venus works closes each edition. This event takes place at the end of the year. The profits are given to associations to give a financial boost to women suffering from breast cancer. The Venus project exists in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, in the Rhône since 2009, and in the Isère since 2016.