“Without stories there is silence. Without our stories told, we are voiceless. Without our stories heard, we are invisible. It is even harder when the stories are hard to hear and impossible to imagine.” – Belinda Mason, photographer
Silent Tears is a multi-media exhibition by internationally renowned photographer Belinda Mason, and emerging artists with disability, Dieter Knierim, Margherita Coppolino and Denise Beckwith. The exhibition will run from April 24 through May 16, 2018, in three locations at Union Theological Seminary. Visit the Knox Cloister and Bonhoeffer Room from 9 am to 5 pm on Monday through Friday, and James Chapel from 9 to 11 am and 2 to 5 pm Monday through Friday. Groups may also book Saturday times by appointment, tmessenger@uts.columbia.edu.
ASL Interpretation will be available for the opening reception and panel discussion. The venue is wheelchair accessible.
Opening Reception and Panel
6:oo pm – Reception and exhibition viewing
6:30 pm – Panel presentation
8:30 pm – Exhibition viewing continues
Silent Tears includes the stories of 25 women with disability who come from five continents and 20 countries including Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Guatemala, Mexico, Ecuador, Canada, Germany, Mali, Pakistan, Samoa, USA, South Africa, West Africa, India, Korea, England, Ireland, Italy and the Netherlands.
Silent Tears is representative of violence against women globally and ensures that the lived-experiences and voices of women with disability who experience violence are included in conversations relating to violence perpetrated against all women. In doing so, Silent Tears adheres to the United Nations (UN) definition of violence against women, as any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or mental harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life (UN, Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women, 1993, p.1)
Narratives are an important part of commencing the healing process and are a major component of policies designed to increase the prevention of violence against women and girls with disability. Silent Tears provides a platform to share the women’s narratives to empower and strengthen. This validates their experiences and enables them to reach out to the wider community in order to shift perceptions and raise awareness of the issue of violence against women with disability. The participants of Silent Tears are illustrative of the broadness of what constitutes disability, the broadness of what constitutes violence as their experiences demonstrate the intersections of culture, gender and identity.
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