A voice against sex trafficking at India Art Fair

Five armless sculptures of girls and women, filled with differently coloured fine hair, raise a voice against sex slavery at the ongoing India Art Fair here.
German-born, Italy-based artist Janine Von Thungen, who has created the figures out of soldered wire mesh and filled them with black brown and blond synthetic hair, provides visitors a pair of scissors or tweezers.
"I ask those passing by to snip at the hairs in the sculptures. Don't worry they are not real," says Thungen who then proceeds to bind the extracted hairs in a ribbon and pack them into small bags "to be kept in one's wallet or hpurse."

The artist says she hopes such singular actions will transform into a collective barrage against sex trafficking.
"Once these sculptures are empty I take it that I have created more awareness in the world to arm yourselves," says Thungen.
"Be Aware" is the title of Thungen's "interactive performance" art and the hairs are intended to become both metaphors and memories, for the millions of girls and women worldwide who are pushed into the sex trade.

"I am using art to create more awareness and more visibility of the sex trafficking problem," said the artist who first made a similar installation in the year 2013.

Since then she has been taking her sculptures into high schools in Italy.
"I have another 3 sculptures and take them to schools to teach the children thae problem of sex trafficking of girls exists, to make them aware of it. Then maybe they can think about it and even come up with their own solutions," says Thungen.
"Hair has so much meanings cultural significance in India. People shave off their children's hair when they are one year old, some communities like the Sikhs never cut their hair, Lord Shiva's hair is portrayed as flowing down the Ganges. There are so many histories,stories about hair, it is a emotive subject," says the artist.

Thungen, says the issue of sex trafficking is prevalent even in Italy, a country where she lives now.
"We have a lot of kids coming in from the neighbouring countries or from war zones like Syria or from the eastern countries. They can be very young and also a little older who are sold off in slavery," says the artist.
For the fair, the artist has collaborated with NGO Aapne Aap Worldwide, an NGO that assists at-risk girls and women in India. The sex trade incidentally is the third largest illegal trade globally, after armaments and drug dealership, according to Ruchira Gupta, who heads the organisation.

Gupta has also made a video that speaks about the issue and is also played alongside Thungen's installations.