Italian artist depicts Disney Princesses as acid attack survivors
PUBLISHED ONFebruary 27, 2015 9:45 AM
SINGAPORE - In celebration of International Women's Day on Mar 8, contemporary Italian artist and activist aleXsandro Palombo has created a new series with Disney Princesses, portraying them as acid attack survivors.
Palombo, who highlights social issues in his work, started the #StopAcidAttack Awareness Campaign, which seeks to raise awareness against acid attacks on women.
In an interview with IBTimes UK, he said: "I have always been in the front line against inequality, and I always used art as a powerful means of awareness. My art is against indifference, I want to shake consciences.
"Disfigure a woman with acid means erase her identity and inflict a never ending pain. It's a crime of immense inhumanity that has nothing to do with modern civilization. Violence against women is unacceptable and must be fought always and relentlessly," he added.
Each year around the world, more than 1,500 women are scarred with acid, according to Acid Survivors Trust International (ASTI).
International statistics also stated the list of countries typically associated with acid assault. They include India, China, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, United States, Nepal, United Kingdom, Ethiopia and Afghanistan.
ASTI reported that women have acid thrown on their faces due to their refusal to give in to sexual advances by men. They also have to endure acid attacks if they refuse their hand in marriage.
Acid attacks may also be a way to deny women access to education, reported Huffington Post - a strategy which the Pakistani Taliban have employed to stop girls from entering the classroom.
Palombo said: "The governments must make tougher laws against the attackers, but without forgetting that it's through education and awareness that we can have a new generation more aware and able to fight harder inequality between the sexes."
This is not the first time that Palombo has redrawn Disney Princesses to raise awareness for a social cause.
Previously, he created a series depicting Disney Princesses and other female cartoon characters as survivors of breast cancer. He is also the author of the popular series "Disabled Disney Princesses".
His other artworks include the recent portrayal of The Simpsons cartoon characters as Holocaust victims, to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Auschwitz liberation during World War II.
stephluo@sph.com.sg