Monday, June 13, 2011

Museum Exhibit: Violence, Women, and Art

 Updated 3/2017-- all links (except to my own posts) removed as many no longer active.

I stumbled upon the news of this exhibit when I visited the CDC’s website and clicked on the button  “CDC Museum.”    Did you know the CDC had a museum?  Well, I don’t think I was aware of it.
This exhibit opened June 6th and will run through September 9, 2011 at the CDC’s Global Health Odyssey Museum.  The exhibit, Off the Beaten Path: Violence, Women and Art, focuses on the prevention of violence against women. 

The work of 28 contemporary artists from 24 countries is presented.  The art works address the issues of violence against women and girls around the world and their basic human rights to a safe and secure life.
Among the artists featured in Off the Beaten Path are: Yoko Ono (Japan), Louise Bourgeois (France), Wangechi Mutu (Kenya), Mona Hatoum (Palestine), and Hank Willis Thomas (USA).
The project which I was able to view online is powerful, emotional.  The exhibit can be viewed online:  Off the Beaten Path virtual exhibition (link no longer active, 3/2017)
or you can attend in person at the Global Health Odyssey Museum.  Their hours are Monday through Friday, 9 AM – 5 PM with hours extended on Thursday to 7 pm. The museum is closed on all federal holidays.

Some of the CDC’s quick facts on violence against women:
About one in 11 teens reports being a victim of physical dating violence each year.1
About one in four teens reports verbal, physical, emotional, or sexual violence each year.2
About one in five high school girls has been physically or sexually abused by a dating partner.3
Each year, women experience about 4.8 million intimate partner related physical assaults and rapes. Men are the victims of about 2.9 million intimate partner related physical assaults.4
Intimate partner violence (IPV) resulted in 2,340 deaths in 2007. Of these deaths, 70% were females and 30% were males.5
The medical care, mental health services, and lost productivity (e.g., time away from work) cost of IPV was an estimated $5.8 billion in 1995. Updated to 2003 dollars, that's more than $8.3 billion.6, 7

Related post:
Domestic Violence  (May 11, 2010)

3 comments:

Gizabeth Shyder said...

Thank you for sharing this. I watched it on my lunch break. It was very moving.

Gizabeth Shyder said...

By the way, I did not know the CDC had a museum, either. Maybe we can continue our museum tours through blogs? If many exhibits as good as that one it might be fun to find and share.

rlbates said...

We should do that, Gizabeth. :)