'A global mass collaboration, protesting continuing murders of women in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. 6200 hand embroidered nametags (by January 2013). Each 2 x 8 cm, stitched by 4500 individuals in 375 globally arranged workshops.
Desconocida Unknown Ukjent is an international art project utilizing a mass collaboration, stitching nametags to protest the continuing murder of women in Ciudad Juaréz, Mexico and in remembrance of similar crimes worldwide.
Ciudad Juaréz:
Since 1993, more than 1500 women have been brutally murdered, and hundreds disappeared in Ciudad Juaréz. Explanations for the murders range from the use of women as prizes for drug cartels, domestic violence, and so-called sexual violence tourism. Many of the victims worked in the numerous sweat shops in Juaréz and the name tags inside their dust coats were often used to identify the decomposed bodies. The Mexican Government has done nothing that has improved the situation, solved cases or prevented new from happening.
I heard about the situation in Ciudad Juaréz for the first time in 2000 when I was living in Houston, Texas. At the end of 2005, the Station Museum of Contemporary Art in Houston, a museum that is dedicated to a political and social agenda, invited me to create a work dedicated to the women in Juarez, for the exhibition, Frontera 450.
At the time, I was again living in Norway and my immediate thought was to use the physical distance as a starting point for my contribution. I wanted to find a way to spread awareness about the horror happening in Ciudad Juaréz, and simultaneously enable a feeling of connection. In essence, abuse and murder of women are about us. It is something that has happened and continues to happen in every global society.' (http://www.lisebjorne.com/art_projects/desconocida-unknown-ukjent/)
Today I took part in a workshop, To contribute to Lise Bjørne Lennerts Unknown project. I watched a small clip of the video for this project and it was so upsetting! I can't believe the government is not doing anything about all these women going missing and being murdered, It is like it is the norm. Which is not ok! I contributed to this project by picking out a name of a women that has been a victim to sew onto a little strip of fabric. I also did the same thing again but with the word 'unknown' for all the body's that have been found with no name. The exhibitions that happen all over the world are these little strips of paper with names on or 'unknown' on just pinned to a wall, There are so so so many of them! She often go's to each of her exhibitions to stand on the stage and scream in pain so show people how much it hurt's!
We gathered around as a class and started to sew into our little strips of fabric, doing this together sparked conversation of the project as well as other things. It is really quite clever how the project has been developed, It is quite a slow process to sew, Giving you time to think about what you are doing and why you are doing it.
I feel really happy to be involve in this socially engaged project, I think using craft to change something is really amazing!
Go check out Lise's website: Click Here!
Spread the word of this amazing project and lets make some changes!
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