"Art's Missing Period"

15 April 2026

8 mins 44s

Menustration Matters

This short film by Kathryn Everett for Kotex shines a light on menstrual art, while tracing the phases of history when such expression was censored, dismissed, or erased. Strikingly, some of those 'missing' chapters aren’t as distant as we might like to think.

Much of what we understand about past civilisations comes not from textbooks, but from the art people left behind, and some of the earliest known creative expressions, dating back tens of thousands of years, are believed to be menstrual art. These works offer valuable insight into the lives of hunter-gatherer societies and are now preserved as important cultural artefacts.

The film presents as a timeline, blending historical context with visual art, and is guided by thoughtful, articulate women who are actively working to dismantle the stigma surrounding both menstruation and female creative expression. Its understated editing and sound design quietly elevate the piece, giving it a reflective, considered tone.

What lingers, though, is the uncomfortable reality that in 2026, a film like this still feels necessary. In a world where so much is openly discussed, the persistence of shame around something as natural as menstruation raises difficult questions about how far we’ve really come.

Global

Sanitary Protection