My Body Is a War Zone: Exhibitions and Testimonies as a Tool for Change. (October 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Kahn, Leora
• Other Names: Stone Katherine guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: Violence against women. Volume 25:Number 13(2019)
• Page Start: 1578
• Page End: 1593
• Publication Date: 2019-10
• Subjects: photography -- exhibition -- advocacy -- empowerment -- story-telling -- Colombia -- testimony; Abused women -- Periodicals; Women -- Crimes against -- Periodicals; Violent crimes -- Periodicals; Femmes victimes de violence -- Périodiques; Femmes, Crimes contre les -- Périodiques; Crimes violents -- Périodiques; 362.8292
• DOI: 10.1177/1077801219869545
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1077-8012

Abstract

This article has evolved from an exhibition produced with PROOF: Media for Social Justice entitled "My Body Is a War Zone, " which was part of a larger project ("Legacy of Rape") consisting of stories from women in four postconflict regions. Drawing on interviews conducted with women in Santa Marta, Colombia, in May 2012 and January 2017, I explore the use of testimony, photography, and exhibition as a means of empowering survivors to become activists. Using the Colombian example, I argue that such exhibitions can transform national and public dialogue by engaging audiences on a personal and emotional level.