White Ribbon Day 2024
On White Ribbon Day 2024, we joined forces with the London Borough of Camden to stand united against gender-based violence, particularly domestic violence. We took part in three impactful staff events organised by Camden Council, bringing attention to these critical issues through the lens of art.
The events featured the powerful artworks of Sarrah El-Bushra, Anne Plaisance, and Michaela Haynes, creating visual conversations that inspired reflection and action. Staff members had the opportunity to hear from artists with lived experience, engage deeply with the issues, and post pledges of support and commitment to combating violence against women and girls. The exhibition, a first for Camden, challenged views and encouraged all to: See it; Say it; Save her.
The council’s campaign, “It Starts with Men”, launched on White Ribbon Day, November 25, coinciding with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and Girls. It set the tone for 16 Days of Activism, during which Camden shared information and updates on its work to tackle domestic abuse.
Camden Council’s commitment was evident across a range of initiatives. Staff events featured senior leaders reaffirming their dedication to ending violence against women and girls, and advice stalls from local organisations like Jewish Women’s Aid, the Asian Women’s Resource Centre, and Camden Safety Net.
The engagement and commitment we witnessed from Camden staff were truly inspiring. We strongly encourage everyone to explore the council’s campaign “Know You’re Not Alone” and learn more about their initiatives to support survivors.
Perfumes, 2024.
Anne Plaisance
This series of perfumes show the multiple manipulation techniques used by abusers, giving a visible form to something intangible that is hard to define and recognise, complex as the elaboration of a perfume, referring also to the physical and chemical trauma bond created with victims.
The sense of smell is closely linked to memory. The group of brain areas that are best known for processing emotions, learning, and memory also process odours.
Anne Plaisance is a French visual artist living near Boston in the United States. Her work focuses on female empowerment and she uses art to channel her gratitude, love and greed for life whilst at the same time exploring her fears and anger against social injustice.
If you are not cut, 2019.
Sarrah el Bushra
“The beauty and strength of Sudanese women have inspired the artist’s work, which aims to highlight harmful traditions and practices against women and girls such as FGM and child marriage still carried out in many patriarchal societies, including Sudan. Despite this, women in Sudan are subject to laws which dictate how they dress in public and require them to have a male relative’s approval to marry or divorce. Women and girls are also subject to traditional practices which violate their human rights such as FGM although it is illegal, and child marriage, which is still legal in Sudan. FGM is an extreme form of discrimination and violence against women. Many believe that FGM (called ‘Tahour’ in Sudan) is a religious requirement, although Islam prohibits doing harm to a woman’s body.
1. If you are not cut…. I
2. If you are not cut…. II
3. If you are not cut…. III
4. Now we are six
5. Wedding night
6. Tahour
Words matter, 2024.
Sarrah el Bushra
” …..words matter …because they remove the authority, the force, even the humour from what women have to say…women are repositioned back into the domestic sphere … it trivializes their words ….”
Mary Beard
Discrimination against women is deeply rooted in our society and words and expressions in our daily life can have a devastating effect, with the power to reinforce prejudices, justify aggressive behaviour and dehumanise women. To change attitudes towards women and girls we need to understand how words impact women and perpetuate gender prejudices and stereotypes.
Sarrah El-Bushra’s practice explores issues of her mixed Sudanese/British identity and cultural practices particularly relating to the treatment of women. Her work explores religious and cultural beliefs and how they affect the experience of being female in Sudanese culture.
40 , 2024.
Michaela Haynes
In the year ending December 2023, the police recorded a domestic abuse offence approximately every 40 seconds (ONS, 2024).
The human torso, housing our most critical organs, is the core of the human body. Life is marked by the rising and falling in our chests, our passions and fears are stored in our guts and our hearts.
With strips of paper clay like bandages, the artist builds each torso up in a symbolic act of care and empathy, tending to the often-unseen wounds that come from domestic abuse, depicted also by the white crackle glaze on each sculpture, beautifully broken.
Michaela is a ceramic artist exploring surface decoration and three dimensional form, treating the clay as a canvas to draw and paint on. Family is very important to Michaela and this theme is present in her artwork, she portrays the constancy of family and how this contributes to her sometimes unpredictable life.
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