An invisible disease made visible

Medicine and art for a paradigm shift in the representation and perception of endometriosis

Abstract

Amongst the many invisible illnesses, we can also count endometriosis, a chronic, so far relatively little investigated, but quite widespread condition that statistically affects 1 in 10 women. In order to draw more attention to the disease and to the many women who often spend years experiencing debilitating symptoms and suffering in silence, several awareness campaigns take place every year all over the world, mostly in March, which is the international endometriosis awareness month. On March 20th 2024 the city of Innsbruck (Austria) hosted one of such events with the title “Endometriose im Gespräch” (Eng. “Let’s talk about Endometriosis”). Its three highlights were the screening of the documentary nicht die regel (Eng. “not the rule”; Ranya Schauenstein, 2021), a subsequent roundtable and an art exhibit dedicated to endometriosis, the latter organized and created by the Tyrolean endometriosis self-help group. Medicine and art came thus together, and their encounter gave a significant impetus to a meditation on the potential of an interdisciplinary dialogue in view of a society-encompassing paradigm shift in the perception of endometriosis. The present intervention aims at delving deeper into such considerations, while also providing an insight into the designing of “Endometriose im Gespräch”.