Centre of cultural development “Totem" joined in with an international campaign, which was initiated in 1991. It runs every year from 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, to 10 December, Human Rights Day. Our artists and photographers created art-works on the issue of violence, in particular of gender-based violence. Then we exhibited these art-works in different locations of Kherson – library, theatre, cafe, central pedestrian street. In each point of this art-route against violence, people got postcards with images and conceptions of artists.

 

Art-route against violence in Kherson

LOCATIONS & ART-WORKS

 

Central pedestrian street Kherson.

Project «WHEN COLORS ARE SUPERFLUOUS», Olena Afanasieva, graphic arts.

 

Red is blood. Blue are bruises. Violet are haematomas. Green – certainly, is colour of medicine, which is used for smearing wounds. In this series of art-works classic womanish beauty of actress of times of Hollywood black and white cinema, icon of style of XX century, is «injured» by spots which remind tracks of beating.

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Coffee-shop of «Coco»

Project «FOLK-LORE», Julia Danilevska, pictures on the tiles.

 

Life/reality is determined by consciousness. None of us is autonomous creation. All of us got in childhood the «base package» of principles, ideas, judgements. We got «culture» also and began to be proud of our traditions. In Ukrainian traditions honoured place is occupied by songs, fairy-tales, proverbs and other folk creativity, and it is not only an layer of our culture but the base of our collective subconscious also. I noticed that a lot of Ukrainian traditional folklore pierced violence against women and aggression and I tried to make truthful illustrations.

 

Kherson regional theater

Project «SO WHAT DID YOU EXPECT?», Max Afanasiev, photos.

 

The best and the most responsible day in a woman’s life. This day decides everything. Bride in a white wedding-dress, and her ideas and hopes white also. Wedding-day is happy. Then another day comes. And another. And another. What day she will understand that her story is not a fairy-tale about princess and prince on white horse. In her story Cinderella came to palace in beautiful dress and married prince at first, and then she appeared in empty room with dirty tableware, broken vacuum cleaner, undercooked soup. Cinderella vice versa. There is not enough time for children and home duties, which exist only for a woman – and our Cinderella leaves studies and stops dream about personal carrier. She has to report about all money to her “prince”. House, which seemed a palace before, turns into prison. You understand already, what «kitchen slavery» means. So what did you expect?!

 

Central city library

Project «DARKNESS», Stanislav Ostrous, photos

 

Child is afraid of darkness, asks to sleep with parents or keep the light on. Typical situation, right?  Many of us, adults, frightened every sound in a corridor or under a bed in our childhood also. However now these child's fears irritate us. My friend told me about one father, who closed children in a bathroom or dark room – he wanted to teach them to be brave, do not afraid of darkness. This is not education, this is violence obviously.

Real darkness is not outside. Darkness hides inside. Darkness is absence of light (I mean light = love).

/All pictures are the artistic reconstructions in families, which supported the action «16 days against violence»/.