Menstrual Festival

In a nutshell

Art, community, and expert knowledge to promote awareness of the menstrual cycle as an important part of mental and physical well-being.

Many people grow up without truly understanding the menstrual cycle - across genders and age groups. This lack of knowledge affects health, communication, work, well-being, and self-understanding. The Menstrual Festival aims to close this knowledge gap through art, science, and open conversations.

We are creating an accessible, multi-day public program that makes cycle knowledge visible and approachable.

What we are creating

The Menstrual Festival will take place at Labör in Oerlikon, Zurich, and will transform the space into a place of learning and discovery for nearly one week.

The core of the festival is a photographic exhibition featuring 40 images that portray the four phases of the menstrual cycle through the metaphor of the seasons. The work documents 10 women across Switzerland and translates cycle knowledge into visual storytelling.

Visitors can experience the exhibition free of charge during opening hours. Alongside the exhibition, the festival includes:

✔️ panel discussions with scientists and medical experts ✔️ educational workshops ✔️ artist and athlete talks ✔️ coaching and applied-cycle sessions ✔️ interdisciplinary conversations across health, sport, art, and society

Most of the experts have already confirmed their presence. The image below provides an overview of how the days will look during the Festival.

• The Space

Labör is a vibrant community and cultural space located in a repurposed former copper factory in Zurich-Oerlikon. It serves as an experimental hub where sustainability, community, creativity, and culture come together through workshops, events, and collaborative projects.

The space encourages meeting, making, learning, repairing, sharing ideas, and exploring new ways of living and working together in a more sustainable and inclusive way. Most events are free or open to contribution, and the venue supports participatory projects that benefit the local neighbourhood and beyond.

• The Exhibition

«Rather than illustrating the menstrual cycle directly, this series explores how the body moves through changing states. The work gives form to energies that are often felt but rarely seen, revealing subtle shifts in posture, presence, and mood, offering a grounded, intimate perspective on cyclical embodiment and the continuity between human experience and the natural world.» By Christin Khaukha, photoSCHWEIZ 2026

The menstrual cycle is often compared to nature’s four seasons:

• menstruation = winter ❄️
• follicular phase = spring 🌷
• ovulation = summer☀️
• luteal phase = autumn 🍂

each embodying a distinct energy.

Over the course of 2024, Maja Juzwiak worked with ten women across Switzerland to translate their cyclical experiences into symbolic visual expressions within different Swiss landscapes.

The project resulted in 40 images that set the stage for the menstrual festival, inviting visitors to explore the different phases of the menstrual cycle and the impact hormonal shifts have on each individual.

The exhibition will have informational shields and interactive activities to engage visitors of all ages.

Below is a short preview of the images shown in February at photoSCHWEIZ 2026 - where only two women were featured. In Labör, we will showcase the full series of ten for the first time.

• The Speakers

Our goal is to give the tool and knowledge from various perspectives - researchers, artists, doctors, coaches, athletes, so individuals can pick and choose what make the most sense for them - the possibility of listening from various angles, learning new things, and trying out what work and what doesn’t in one own reality.

Below, a list of a few speakers we have confirmed:

• Marina Hagen, menstrual coach and founder of LÜN
• Dr. med. Valentina Vinante, specialist in gynecology and obstetrics
• Lisa Falco, scientist, femtech expert, and author of Go Figure!
• Alex Plaza, founder of Moonchy
• Konstantina Nikolakopoulou, PhD in endometrial biology and 3D organoid models
• Camila Gutiérrez Meade, founder of Te-Toca
• Andrea Kuster, sexuality educator
• Aurelie Bon, femtech entrepreneur and founder of Red Drop Lab
• Alejandra Abad, artist
• Amélie Bertschy, physiotherapist, coach, and athlete

and more to come..

• Why It Matters

Menstruation concerns us all. Over 50% of the world’s population menstruates, has menstruated, or will still menstruate.

However, our society still lacks an elementary open dialogue and knowledge transfer about the topic.

Cycle knowledge supports better health decisions, training planning, mental well-being, and communication with self and others. Yet it is still rarely taught in practical ways. By creating an open, public, and interdisciplinary format, we help normalise the topic and make reliable knowledge accessible and easily understandable for those who menstruate and those who don’t.

• Accessibility & Values

Most talks and workshops will be offered free of charge because we believe access to knowledge should not depend on income. Our goal is to create a welcoming space for people of all genders and backgrounds.

• Who Is Behind It

We’re unboxing cycles - a Swiss association working at the intersection of art, education, and social awareness. Our mission is to make menstrual cycle knowledge visible, understandable, and openly discussable. Through creative and educational projects, we open spaces for learning, reflection, and conversation across society.

Behind the association is a four-person core team - Maja, Ily, Jemima, and Lucy - and a large network of professionals based across Switzerland, bringing together our different backgrounds and expertise to make this project happen.

Budget

First Tier: Minimum budget: CHF 6,500


This is the bare minimum to make it possible, used for:

• exhibition printing & production
• venue and technical setup
• communication materials
• accessibility measures

(we’re volunteering our time and work - these are pure infrastructure costs to make it happen)

If we exceed the goal (second tier: CHF 15’000), additional funds will go toward expanded programming, contributor support, and broader outreach.

Timeline: go or no-go decision mid-March / Program release: 06.04 / Production period: April & May Festival dates: 28.05-03.06

• What Supporters Enable

With your support, this festival becomes possible. You help create an open knowledge space, bring expert voices together, and make cycle education visible through art and dialogue.

If you believe that body literacy and open conversation matter, we invite you to support this project and share it with your network (you’re welcome to choose more than one goodie, too ;)).🖤

(a HUGE thank you to all the supporters of this campaign, with their goodies, love and time!!)