NGO to exhibit belly cast art

 By SHARLYNE ERI 
Safe Motherhood Alliance PNG (Small PNG) will stage its premiere fundraiser at the Grand Papua Hotel on July 30.
The event will exhibit and auction belly cast arts, moulded from bellies of young pregnant women.Small is a non-governmental organisation that advocates, coordinates and networks, maternal health issues. The organisation was founded by Dame Carol Kidu who recognised a gap in coordination within the maternal health sector.
Small spokesperson Lavinia Mul said the organisation was committed to providing a platform for organisations to communicate and collaborate to achieve better maternal health.
“The organisation is about working towards addressing issues that affect maternal health to alleviate current maternal mortality status in PNG,” Mul said.
The belly cast art project concept is an initiative to connect people with issues of teenage pregnancy.
Twelve young pregnant women were invited by Small to have their bellies plaster-casted. These young women had each gone through discrimination from their families and communities they lived in and suffered from stigma.
The belly casts were then designed by well-known and upcoming PNG artists.