Larking About

A handbag decorated with Long Acting Reversible Contraceptives
When Pharmacopoeia started in 1998 we were interested in contraception. Liz Lee asked permission from her patients when removing IUDs to use them for a series of artworks we called ‘Wise Women’. We calculated how many contraceptive pills would have provided equivalent protection and knitted them into a series of dresses, coats and scarves.

By the time we reached the 2010s thinking had changed. Long Acting Reversible Contraceptives (LARCs) were in fashion, especially for young women. These LARCs have a much lower failure rate than The Pill and the NHS have been encouraging their use ever since. Here Pharmacopoeia show examples of LARCs: two IUDs and three bars of Nexplanon: the hormone delivery system inserted just under the skin of the upper arm.

2020