Words of Selves: the other side of silence

Words of Selves: the other side of silence is a participatory project produced with the support and collaboration of the Domestic Violence and Abuse Service and Newton Abbot town council. My initial question was, ‘how can we represent domestic violence and abuse against women without stereotyping?’ My concern was the way that descriptions in the media and in society often condense women into a single victimised position leading to misconceptions that abuse only happens to certain type of woman. Over two years a patchwork quilt was created with women service users and staff from the Domestic Violence and Abuse Service. Each woman created a fabric square to represent their diverse experience through image and word. I interviewed service users about their personal experiences and staff on various myths and perceptions of domestic violence and abuse. A headboard was created in collaboration with designer, Lisa Fuller, to attach to a double bed to present the quilt on. Familiar, shared phrases the abusers told women were etched onto the headboard in the shape of a female form. The installation, presented at Newton Abbot Museum, consisted of the bed, a soundscape of women’s voices and fragments of interviews with staff were available for the public to listen to.