OUTLAND CONVINI
OUTLAND PUBLISHING FAIR
The Mehen Board Game
K.O.W2023
The Mehen Board Game dates back to pre-dynastic Egypt, around 3000 BCE. It was a race game with a board shaped like a coiled snake, and certain spaces carried special rules. However, as ancient Egyptian kingdoms declined, the game fell out of use, and its precise rules and origins remain unknown.
In response, the artist attempts a reinterpretation of the game. She draws on the symbol of the snake and its layered cultural metaphors to explore the experience of menstruation. The book begins with a classic dream omen involving a snake during pregnancy, then moves into the frequent use of the 🐍 emoji in period-tracking apps, and the phrase “jie yi ma” (literally “welcoming Aunt Flo”)—a kind of incantation used by women anxious about potential pregnancy, hoping for the good fortune of menstruation’s timely arrival. The narrative continues with the idea of female choice in the natural world, eventually arriving at the center—and end—of the board: a symbolic site of female power over life and death.
盘蛇图Mehen是出现于西元前三千年前古埃及前王朝时期的掷赛游戏，版图如同一条卷曲的蛇，途中若抵达某些特定格子有特别规定。但随着古埃及王国的衰落，这个游戏不再流行，现在仍不清楚该游戏的规则和来源。
因此作者尝试重新阐释这个游戏，她借用“蛇”的符号及其在文化上的多重隐喻去探讨“接姨妈”的现象。书籍从一个经典的关于蛇的胎梦开始，进入到经期记录应用里大量出现的“🐍”符号、“接姨妈”，再到自然界里的“雌性选择”，最后进入到棋盘的中心也是棋盘的终点——生死予夺的女性能力。