A new art exhibition at Kaleidoscope Arts Foundation (KAF) challenges one of the bedrocks of society today — marriage.

'Work in Progress' by Katherine Harriott runs from April 1 to 17 in the Elliot Gallery at KAF in Devonshire. It includes a selection of screenwire wedding dresses designed to show the emptiness of marriage.

The dresses will later be part of a larger installation which will include a video about marriage.

Ms Harriott is formerly the executive director of the Women's Resource Centre and is now Acting Director at KAF.

Lifestyle's Jessie Monizmet with Ms Harriott to discuss (and debate) her beliefs about marriage and relationships.

Q: Why are you using wedding dresses in this show?

A: This is a deconstruction of marriage rituals and things like that. The wedding dresses represent a lot of different things. They represent the wedding for the woman. In this particular exhibit you will just see the dresses. The final one is a video about wedding rituals and deconstructs specifically the wedding ceremony, and as a whole and what marriage does to women, potentially.

Q:Have you ever been married?

A: Yes, I am divorced.

Q: What was your wedding dress like?

A: I wore pink trousers. That was well back in 1971. It just seemed like the thing to do at the time. I am divorced now.

Q: If you ever had to do it again would you go for the poofy wedding dress option?

A: I would never go for the poofy thing. I don't believe in the institution of marriage.

Q: But don't you think that marriage has changed today?

A: It may have changed for some women, and in some marriages, but marriage is still about property. It is not about the commitment to each other. It is a ritual that has no real meaning. It binds people together artificially. The institution itself is obsolete.

Q: Some might say that it's not marriage that has changed, but our attitudes towards commitment that have changed?

A:I don't think our attitudes to commitment have changed. I think people can make a commitment without the marriage ritual. It is really easy to get married and really difficult to get divorced. Why is one so easy and the other so hard. Why is that?

Q: What about common law marriages?

A: I don't believe there is any common law in Bermuda. If you are living with someone you don't have any right to their property. If you live with them for 50 years how can you have no right to their property?

Q: Isn't it also a question of the right to the partner themselves, in situations of hospitalisation, for example. I know some people have lived together for long periods of time, then found that in a medical emergency they didn't have a right to see their partner, or to make decisions about their care.

A: You shouldn't have to get married to have the right to be with someone in that situation. We have a very strong sense that people should be married at a certain age and have children. We still hold on to those old-fashioned ideas. I think it is especially detrimental to women, but may also be detrimental to men as well.

Q: But I know of some situations where the newly married woman has informed the husband that he is going to be in charge in the marriage. Don't you think that some women make the choice to abdicate power to the man?

A: If you make the choice that is one thing. But I think that many people are not making the choice they are just going along with it. I don't think it is an informed decision.

Q: What about the traditional marriage?

A: Traditionally, marriage has been bad for women. There was a time when it wasn't, because people recognised that it was about property. You married the person that your family chose for you because they had the firm next door. That was more about partnership and property and well being. The love marriage has not been around that long.

Q: Tell me about the dresses.

A: They are slightly ghostly because they are spray-painted white. They are empty shells.

Q: Are you against all rituals?

A: If it is a ritual that you have chosen, then no. If it is thoughtful and purposeful. I am not Christian and I don't believe in religion so that type of ritual does not appeal to me.

Q: But obviously, humankind gets something out of ritual. I mean we all have some kind of ritual in our lives.

A: And every family has rituals. I probably have rituals with my partner, probably. But we don't identify them as such. There are things that we do over and over again. We eat meals together. We do things together that are kind of ritualistic but they are not necessarily prescribed by society.

My concern is this sheep-like thing that we do. Marriage is something I have thought about alot because I am divorced.

Q: So you are now in a relationship?

A: I have lived with someone for five or six years.

Q: And you don't feel the need to formalise things or declare things in front of a community?

A: No, not really, except for the property problem. In Canada, when you get married the next day you are entitled to 50 percent of the property. If you live with someone for more than six months you are entitled to a portion of their property. Here you may be entitled to it but you'd have to go to court to really fight for it. In Canada I didn't have to fight for it. I am entitled to 50 percent. There is no argument about it. I think if people are going to get married then they need to update the laws.

Q: You worked with the Womens Resource Centre in the past. Do you think that has influenced your attitudes to marriage?

A: Probably some what. But one of the reasons I wanted to work in a women's centre was my feminist beliefs. That was the ideal place for me to work. I don't think it has influenced this show any further. It confirmed my beliefs but didn't really change them. Abuse of power is so easy when someone has power. It is just that one extra step. If you believe in traditional marriage that will happen. The man is head of the family, and the woman is secondary so the potential is greater for abuse.

Q: But can't that abuse happen just as easily in a relationship even if you didn't go to church and formally recognise the relationship?

A: Absolutely, if you believe in the traditional relationship where male is dominant and female is submissive. It starts with marriage but it is broader than that. It may be a live-in relationship. You believe in the stereotypical role, then the potential for abuse is greater. It may be physical abuse or financial abuse, or whatever.

Q: Did you feel that this was cathartic?

A: No. It is not cathartic. It is a parallel conversation. It is a different way of telling people what I tell them every day. It is about my beliefs about stereo typing people into roles.

Q: But don't all relationships have a dominant and submissive?I mean if you put animals together the first thing they determine is who is the boss.

A: Yes, but we aren't animals, and we can choose. Biologically, we might be animals, but we don't live in trees anymore. Your instinct might be one thing, but humans can choose. And if you believe in equality then there shouldn't be a dominant and submissive person in a relationship.