Cervical Can Opener

When I find the place after walking the hills of the city the first thing I am confronted with is a buzzer.  It sounds like it's not working and so I wait and wonder if I am connecting or  disturbing someone unnecessarily and my sense of anxiety increases. Finally there is a faint noise of a human voice and the door is clicked open.
I slowly ascend the staircase of the  1741 building and observe how it is slightly lopsided as I continue up the second flight.  A notice informs me that I may only enter the room one person at a time forming an orderly queue whilst waiting.  There is no queue. I knock gently on the door.  No answer. I enter cautiously.  A table, lit by a small lamp holds a text 'The Masters Tools' . It is a brief history of the speculum from it's invention my Dr James Marion Sims in 1845 through it's various misuses throughout history. It shocks me and makes me angry for those women who endured so much pain and abuse. 
In the centre on the room is a large but low wooden chair upholstered with red leather. I approach and run my hand over the varnished wood before sitting. The width and the void in the centre of the seat encourage me to sit wide legged as I gaze at the projected image in front of me.
The cervix of a dummy pelvis is made visible by the use of a surgical steel speculum at the rubber gloved had of a presumed medical practitioner. The whir of the projector and the sound of the street outside are my only company. It's just me and the cervix. I wonder what my own cervix looks like. I glance over my shoulder hearing a door below shut, wondering if anyone will disturb me. I realise I am fully clothed and nobody is coming to inspect me today. My body is my own. I rise to leave, noticing the poster with instructions as to how one might examine oneself. I think about the women going for smear tests today, what kind of experience they will have.  Will their results come back clear and will this be a truthful reflection on their health.  Will they give ultimate trust to medicine or will they ask questions.

Cervical Can Opener by Léann Herlihy runs from 25 August - 21 September 9-5 Monday to Friday at The Fashion and Textile Design Hub, 30-31 Shipquay Street Derry. Late opening from 7-9.30pm Friday 21 September for Culture Night.