Finding light in reply to violence
Despite haunting shadows, light will shine through. An atmosphere akin to a fairytale, where pain, sadness and unease is overlaid with hope and courage, is conjured by Standing In My Own Light, a new exhibit at Te Manawa. The display is by the Women’s Art Initiative (WAI), a collective for women who have experienced violence and abuse. A brightly lit tunnel of triangles – the strongest shape that cannot be crushed – leads to what is less a room and more an experience. It is described by WAI founder Dr Karen Seccombe as a ‘‘wrap-around environment’’ layered with sound, light and dark. There are interactive components and a quiet place to read a poem by Kelly Jarvis, an artist and co-facilitator at WAI. The effect is a sense that even amid the most foreboding shadows, light will find a way through. Standing In My Own Light marks the group’s 10-year anniversary. ‘‘I wanted everyone to be able to see themselves in the exhibition . . . and to show people that what society might see as damaged can actually be something that doesn’t have to stop you,’’ said Anna (a pseudonym), who contributed a display of famous people with different abilities. Her piece includes interactive tarot cards that offer guidance. ‘‘If you are in an abusive relationship, you don’t necessarily have an external safe space to get advice from, so the cards do that for me.’’ Cheleigh Dunkerton contributed Shelters, a display of little houses. ‘‘My work is about innocence and imagining a place that’s safe and pure and magical. When I was a kid, I would go out into the garage and read fairytales and encyclopaedias. And that was my way of escaping the violence in the home,’’ she said. Seccombe provided an intricately decorated and colourful leadlight door. Doors often convey a sense of adventure and new beginnings. Her door is designed to shatter the domestic violence myth in which women are asked why they don’t ‘‘just leave’’. ‘‘It’s that idea that leaving makes you safe. But actually it doesn’t . . . Leaving is the most dangerous time.’’ Jarvis added: ‘‘Most murders happen when you leave.’’ Catherine Daniels provided three pieces, including a sculpture with a smaller one on its stomach. Daniels exhibited for the first time at Square Edge in March last year. Since then she has been to conferences, held exhibitions around the country, and published a book, The Secret Keeper. Next year she will tour the United States. Art from The Secret Keeper collection was also used in a submission to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. Daniels said this was the first time art had been accepted as someone’s evidence for the inquiry. She said her art was able to convey what words couldn’t. A clinical psychologist who visited one of her exhibitions told Daniels she had listened to people’s stories her whole life, and the three-dimensional sculptures were the embodiment of those experiences. It allowed her to better understand those stories. The WAI collective uses art as storytelling, to share experiences, break down myths, and uphold the dignity of the artists. After experiencing violence and abuse, women and children often become defined by those experiences and described as either victims or courageous survivors. WAI was set up to challenge those labels and give women the space to be themselves, using art as a language to tell their own stories. Standing in My Own Light features work from 17 artists in Manawatū. The exhibit is at Te Manawa until January 22. A map and booklet are available at reception.