Events

Working with Shatitsirótha': the Waterloo Indigenous Student Centre (WISC), the Office of Indigenous Relations (ORI) and 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, Dr. Sorouja Moll initiated the interactive and reflective art installation Bridge in 2015 to create a space for all University community members to learn about the crisis of violence committed against Indigenous women, girls and two spirit Peoples.

Working with Shatitsirótha': the Waterloo Indigenous Student Centre (WISC), the Office of Indigenous Relations (ORI) and 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, Dr. Sorouja Moll initiated the interactive and reflective art installation Bridge in 2015 to create a space for all University community members to learn about the crisis of violence committed against Indigenous women, girls and two spirit Peoples.

Join the Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Office (SVPRO) and Sexual Assault Centre for Waterloo Region (SASC) for the What Were You Wearing? art installation. What Were You Wearing? is an art exhibit based on student-survivor descriptions of the clothes they were wearing when they were sexually assaulted. Sexual assault survivors are often asked, “what were you wearing?”, implying that what someone wears can cause a sexual assault.

This myth about sexual violence is used to blame survivors and justify the actions of those who cause harm. Survivors are never to blame for their experience(s) of sexual violence. We all have the right to wear what we want. 

The “What Were You Wearing?” Survivor Art Installation originated at the University of Arkansas in 2013. Created by Jen Brockman and Dr. Mary Wyandt-Hiebert, the project was inspired by Dr. Mary Simmerling’s poem, What I Was Wearing. Oregon State University interpreted and recreated a virtual exhibit.

This semester, the SVPRO in partnership with SASC is recreating the exhibit to highlight the pervasiveness of victim-blaming and the harm and trauma it causes survivors.
 

When

Tuesday February 28, 10am to 8pm

Wednesday March 1, 10am to 5pm
 

Where

Student Life Centre, Multi-Purpose Room (SLC - MPR)

Join the Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Office (SVPRO) and Sexual Assault Centre for Waterloo Region (SASC) for the What Were You Wearing? art installation. What Were You Wearing? is an art exhibit based on student-survivor descriptions of the clothes they were wearing when they were sexually assaulted. Sexual assault survivors are often asked, “what were you wearing?”, implying that what someone wears can cause a sexual assault.

This myth about sexual violence is used to blame survivors and justify the actions of those who cause harm. Survivors are never to blame for their experience(s) of sexual violence. We all have the right to wear what we want. 

The “What Were You Wearing?” Survivor Art Installation originated at the University of Arkansas in 2013. Created by Jen Brockman and Dr. Mary Wyandt-Hiebert, the project was inspired by Dr. Mary Simmerling’s poem, What I Was Wearing. Oregon State University interpreted and recreated a virtual exhibit.

This semester, the SVPRO in partnership with SASC is recreating the exhibit to highlight the pervasiveness of victim-blaming and the harm and trauma it causes survivors.
 

When

Tuesday February 28, 10am to 8pm

Wednesday March 1, 10am to 5pm
 

Where

Student Life Centre, Multi-Purpose Room (SLC - MPR)

Presented by UWAG and UW Fine Arts in conjunction with the UW Sexual Violence Prevention Response Office

When: Thursday March 2, 6:00-7:30 pm

Where: University of Waterloo Art Gallery, East Campus Hall 1239

Please join us for a discussion between visiting artist Laura Magnusson and Meaghan Ross, Sexual Violence Response Coordinator at the Sexual Violence Prevention Response Office, University of Waterloo. They will discuss themes relating to trauma and resilience in relation to the artist’s current exhibition I was Wearing Golden Clamshell Earrings on display at the University of Waterloo Art Gallery through March 4.

In addition to the discussion there will be a participatory activity inspired by the artist’s drawing installation 74 Minutes.

Ranging from video and sculpture, to drawing and archival materials, the artworks in the exhibition collectively express a form of “embodied testimony” based on the artist’s research and her lived experience as a sexual assault survivor. Drawing parallels between her own experience of gender-based violence with the violence routinely inflicted upon the ecology of the ocean floor, Magnusson’s work invites empathy and contemplation of difficult, often suppressed topics.

Please be advised that this exhibition includes themes of sexual violence and trauma, which some viewers may find distressing. It may also be the case that some viewers may not notice any impact until after engaging with the exhibit. A list of available resources and supports will be available at the front desk of the gallery, and we encourage you to consider accessing these as needed.

The artist acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.

A Call to End Gender-Based Violence.