Authored by: bec ritchie, NGO CSW/NY Advocacy & Admin Intern
Considering its pervasiveness, combating gender-based violence is both a vital and monumental effort, and it is one that can take on many forms. The arts play a hugely important role in tackling gender-based violence—from protest and activist art that creates awareness of and draws attention to the violence that is routinely faced by women and girls, to the various art therapies that are available to survivors of domestic and gender-based violence.
The Arts & Activism
Art activism or ‘artivism’ refers to art of any medium (such as film, poetry, art installations, performance art) where the purpose is to incite change or further an important issue in some way, be it environmental, political, or social. Feminist artists or ‘art activists’ explore women’s issues in their work—gender-based violence unfortunately being one of the most pressing. On how feminist art activism can address gender-based violence, digital research platform, ALIGN, asserts: ‘Feminist artivism can pose a direct challenge to the discriminatory gender norms – that is, the implicit and informal rules that inform and guide gender roles and relations – that underpin GBV.’
malalai kakkar [Afghani police woman slain by taliban], 2009, Jaishri Abichandani
The Pixel Project is a gender-violence non-profit organisation. Earlier this year, they compiled a list in celebration of the ‘transformative power of art in addressing violence against women through the work of diverse and visionary artists.’ Featured artists include those who are no longer with us, such as Faith Ringgold and Ana Mendieta, to artists who are creating important works right now like Jaishri Abichandani, Billie Zangewa, and Magali Trapero. Each uses a unique creative expression, incorporating mediums such as sculpture, textile, performance, painting, and multimedia installations to confront and challenge the systemic issue of violence against women.
Slave Rape #3: Fight to Save Your Life, 1972, Faith Ringgold
Have a look here to see how sixteen artists of different generations and from different corners of the world tackle gender-based violence in their respective practices—considering tragedy, suffering, perseverance, hope, and healing.
The Arts & Healing
Recovering and healing from gender-based violence is often complex, non-linear, and can take varying periods of time. In this respect, the role of the arts in addressing gender-based violence extends beyond activism, protest, and advocacy. Incorporating the arts into combating gender-based violence can also look like creating and ensuring access to various art therapies for victims and survivors of such violence.
According to The National Domestic Violence Hotline, recent studies demonstrate that traumatic memories reside in the back of the brain, which is associated with non-verbal memories like sights, sounds, and smells associated with past events:
‘This means that commonly recommended self-care activities like journaling, talking to a friend, or even traditional talk therapy might not be the most effective strategies for working through those memories and the emotional and physical reactions attached to them. Art expression (in all its forms) activates the right brain because it incorporates your senses by providing tactile, kinesthetic, auditory, and/or visual information. This means that arts activities can tap into traumatic memories the way that other, less sensory activities cannot. There is evidence that engagement with artistic activities, either as an observer or as an initiator, can enhance your mood, emotions, and other psychological states, while reducing symptoms like stress and depression.’
The Hotline suggests that one way in which survivors can benefit from the ‘healing power of the arts’ is through some form of creative or expressive therapy that utilises art in some way. According to the American Art Therapy Association, ‘art therapy is a mental health profession that enriches the lives of individuals, families, and communities through active art-making, creative process, applied psychological theory, and human experience within a psychotherapeutic relationship.’ Therapies can include art, music, dance or other kinds of movement, drama, poetry, or play therapy.
There are extensive resources available for those who have experienced gender-based violence. For more information, please see below:
