Silent Silhouettes

The concept of "Silent Silhouettes" as an art installation bas been used before in various Eastern European countries to raise awareness about Domestic Violence. Each life-sized Silhouette commemorates and represents the life of one victim of domestic abuse. These figures have been displayed strategically in the month of November which has been designated by the UN for Domestic Violence Recognition.

“Silent Silhouettes” has made a powerful impact in various locations around the world, as it graphically presents audiences with a collective body count while personalizing the experience with a display of each woman’s name and story. This way the woman is presented as a real person versus another statistic.

Projects such as these should be encouraged and reproduced both at a National and Regional level, in an effort to retain the sustained awareness and visibility of the issues that most affect our women.

Promises Broken ... All Flowers are the Same

The performance piece entitled Promises Broken embodies the concept of women as flowers. This is fitting as women are often given flowers as a sign of their partner’s love and commitment, while it is also reflective of men’s perception of women as flowers - fragile and pretty. When their looks and other functions fade, they are then discarded like decaying flowers.

Domestic Abuse whether physical, psychological or sexual is a betrayal of the promise that men make to women. This is Woman’s recurring history: one in three women will suffer some kind of abuse in their life time by a “loved” one. Abuse connects women and in that respect we are all the same and we are all vulnerable. It is only by raising awareness and stepping out of the shadow of our objectified status that we can prevent this from becoming our future. Each Silhouette will be presented with a flower as a symbol of their life and the broken promises that resulted in their deaths.