By Marija Virijevic | Project Leader
You can just read what we did in last three months, you can just watch photos from that events or you can do both. Thank you in advance.
DAY CARE CENTER FOR CHILDREN
During this hellish summer, the Children's Day Center was a refuge for street children, where they colored and drew, played shops and markets, put together puzzles, watched cartoons, learned to write and read. It's best to look at the photos because they speak a thousand words.
"WOMEN'S CEMETERY" PERFORMANCE AND FORUMS ABOUT FEMICIDE IN 5 CITIES IN THE SOUTH OF SERBIA
In Serbia, around 30 women are killed annually. Since 2010, 450 of them have been killed by men. Activism through art, examining public attitudes, informing and encouraging citizens to take part in the fight to combat femicide are the actions we have taken. Street performances, forums, survey and campaign on femicide were realized in five cities in the south of Serbia: Pirot, Aleksinac, Leskovac, Dimitrovgrad and Niš. The result is that many citizens heard about the term femicide for the first time, that many of them who knew realized the gravity of the problem, expressed their desire to contribute to its solution. Their reactions were visible, when they approached us, asked if they could sign a petition, shared their experiences with institutions when reporting violence.
AMAZING, STRONG, FREE – THE 11TH ARTFEMINE FESTIVAL FINISHED
The Center for Girls successfully realized the 11th ArtFemine festival of feminist art and activism, titled "Amazing, Strong, Free". The indoor events were visited by over 60 people, and in total all the activities at the festival, including the street performance, were seen by over 2,000 of them. During 4 days, the festival hosted 14 important women from the artistic, scientific and activist scene.
We had an art exhibition called "Woman as a Rock", which included the works of the participants of the 9th Feminist Art Colony in Sicevo, as well as drawings by one female artist from Belgrade.
Also, we had the promotions of two books: "Imperfect" by Lidija V. psychologist, psychotherapist and activist and "Jefimija, the woman who won't" by Minja M. - 100heads. Conversation with the author of „Imperfect“ was about how the patriarchal view of the concept of normality harms women, about the history of mental illnesses and their treatment in women, as well as about how misogyny and prejudice shaped the attitude of psychotherapy towards women and were used as an excuse for their institutionalization, and more.
The woman from the Egal, association Anela C., presented her research on violence in lesbian partner relationships, how widespread violence is in lesbian relationships, and how the law sees this violence.
The activists of the Center for Girls performed the performance "Women's Cemetery" in the center of Niš and distributed pamphlets about violence and femicide to fellow citizens. In the evening, at the forum on violence against women, Marija V. the coordinator of program of Center for girls talked with three remarkable women: with Nevena P. president of the Women's Research Center, with Vida V. scientific associate and criminologist and with young woman, Dejana S. who is educator and activist, about the prevalence and different forms of violence against women, especially sexual violence, domestic violence and femicide.
There were talks about the mechanisms for protecting women from violence and how they function in reality, about the role of institutions and the environment in providing protection and support to women, about the prejudices that exist about violence, about activism and its importance, but also about why it is important to recognize femicide as special type of murder and have official statistics about it. After the serious topics, the evening continued in a more relaxed atmosphere, with the stand-up performance "You rock, Irena" by the female comedian Jagoda J, and then with the party "Amazing, strong, free" by DJ Alex.
We had 6 workshops on festival: making jewelry from recycled material -"Transformation" by Tanja C, a drama workshop - "From an idea to a drama realization" by actress Dragana J., and an art workshop - "What does the collective we want to be a part of" looks like“ - by art artist Jelena P., comics workshop - "Heroes" by artist Jelena ., jewelry making workshops - "Expression trough jewelery" by Jana T. and collage making workshops - "Combinatorics of newspaper titles" by Marina R.
The festival took place in a positive, friendly, relaxed atmosphere. Hugs, ideas were exchanged, new acquaintances were made and discussions on important topics were started.
These are some of the guest comments:
STREET ACTION FOR THE GENDER EQUALITY LAW
We had two street action the occasion of the decision of the Constitutional Court to initiate the procedure of examining the constitutionality of the Gender Equality Law and to suspend its application while the procedure is ongoing. First action was in front of the Basic Court in Nis and another was held in Obrenoviceva Street in the center of Nis. On second action we placed special emphasis on the responsibility of the Ombudsman in this shameful procedure.
The Gender Equality Law implies equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities, equal participation and balanced representation of women and men in all areas of social life.
Many fellow citizens, both passers-by and travelling by their vehicles and public transport, had the opportunity to read the following messages:
Gender-sensitive language is important because it enables the visibility of women in all areas of life and work.
If you can say woman hairdresser, you can say woman politician and minister.
If you can say maid, you can say woman surgen and playwrighter.
If you can say woman pedicure, you can say woman pediatrician.
If you can say maid, you can say woman diplomat.
If you can say seamstress, you can say councilwoman.
If you can say woman teacher, you can say woman lawyer and councilor.
The Gender Equality Law ensures equal rights and opportunities for both women and men.
If there were more women than men in some work area, this law would allow men to have a minimum of 40%.
The Constitutional Court wants to return us to the Middle Ages.
On first action some of the fellow citizens approached to ask what it was about, but unfortunately, there were also negative comments, curses and honking from the car. On second action, some of the passers-by came to ask what it was all about. This time the comments were positive and very supportive.
10TH FEMINIST ART COLONY
The 10th Feminist Art Colony was successfully held in Sicevo. Ten female artists participated from Croatia (Zadar and Rijeka) and Serbia (Belgrade, Novi Sad, Obrenovac, Babušnica, Niš).
The program of the Feminist Art Colony included one performance and two plays, an introduction workshop, empowering self-defense workshops and a gender-sensitive language workshop. All these activities were performed/led by women.
On introductory workshop the artists had the opportunity to learn about the history of the Center for Girls and the Feminist Art Colony and the activist and artistic program of the Center for Girls, and we about their creativity, the topics they deal with and the inspiration that inspires them
The artists had the opportunity to attend the Empowering Self-Defense workshops trought which they learned the communication formula, 5 principles of self-defense, 5 grips and 3 strikes for physical self-defense; they learned how to be more assertive and say "NO" loudly, to recognize potential danger, to be aware of their surroundings, they learned how to get out of a violent situation, run away and defend themselves physically.
On workshop on gender-sensitive language, they exchanged their views and experiences, broke some prejudices and learned more about why it is important to use gender-sensitive language, how it increases the visibility of women in public life, as well as what is the situation in Serbia with the Law on Gender Equality, which prescribes the use of gender sensitive language. In the evening, in the colony.
On the seventh day of the colony, the artists finished their works and left three of their best works each to the Center for Girls.
"OTHER PEOPLE'S SHOES" - Center for Girls was part of performance at Nišville Jazz Theater Festival
Three activists of the Center for Girls, were part of the theater performance "Other People's Shoes: An Aria for the Empathy" by the British theater director, which talks about migrants.
Actors from the Puppet Theater and dancers from the Teatro Dance Studio participated too, and musicians from Niš, took part in the performance as well. The performance was performed as part of the first night of the Nišville Jazz Theater festival, and by the decision of the expert jury, it was awarded the prize for the best used music in the play.
We gained valuable experience, wonderful memories and sent important messages to our fellow citizens.
Thanks for reading and following your work.
By Marija Virijevic | Project leader
By Marija V. | Project Leader
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