Honouring Our Stories

ABOUT THE PROJECT

Honouring Our Stories is an art-based community project that centres the resilience and dignity of women surviving sexual violence.

Our aim is to deepen understanding and engage public and police in a joint effort to address sexual violence in Thunder Bay.

Tumblr: https://honouringourstories.tumblr.com/

A Few Project Highlights:

• March 6, 2018: Sexual Assault/Sexual Violence Awareness Day at Confederation College
• November 22, 2017: Community Screening of Digital Stories for Front-line workers and general community members
• July 28, 2017: Minister Indira Naidoo-Harris and her staff visited the Northwestern Ontario Women’s Centre,
• October 1, 2017: Culture Days The Elephant In The Room 
• More info: Ontario Arts Council – Creative Engagement Fund to Stop Sexual Violence and Harassment in Ontario
• September 16, 2016: Official project launch and annoucement at Thunder Bay Art Gallery
•  Media Release and Advisory
• December 4, and 6: Orientation for survivors and police participants

Blog:

Honouring Our Stories exhibition at Thunder Bay Art Gallery until May 13, 2018

We gather with food and music

The digital storytelling process

How do we talk to each other?

We Believe Survivors

Bringing Together Two Worlds

Healing is non-linear

CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS

We have our 10 women survivor participants and 10 police participants.

Who’s Involved?

• Local artists including Leanna Marshall and more.
• Northwestern Ontario Women’s Centre
• Community Story Strategies
• Thunder Bay Police
• Thunder Bay Art Gallery

GOALS

• To inspire understanding, educate, challenge victim-blaming and shape the community dialogue about sexual violence through art-making and digital stories created by women participants.

• To centre women’s experiences of sexual violence  and focus on women’s dignity and resistance to violence to counter myths, assumptions, and stereotypes about victims.

• To engage police officers as allies and examine their role in community safety.

• To engage local artists in program delivery and ensure they have the support to deliver programming that reflects and responds to the needs of participants.

• To engage the community through arts-based practice to show support for women who have experienced sexual violence and to increase awareness about how everybody plays a role in preventing and addressing sexual violence.

About digital storytelling

What is digital storytelling?

• A digital story is a 2-5 minute video featuring pictures, visual art, text, video, and music as a way to share in first person narrative for personal growth and healing, education, community engagement, policy change.

• Digital storytelling brings together first person perspective together with social media to educate and inform the public.

Why digital storytelling?

• Represents the diverse lived experiences of women, impacted by sexual violence

• Present complex stories in accessible ways.

• Narratives of sexual violence can empower survivors and emphasize their resistance against violence.

• Encourages self-expression, communication, exploration, and social justice.

• It’s a community engagement and community building process.  It can open our heart and minds to understand different forms of oppression. We can hear how people who have experienced sexual violence might also feel ashamed, silenced, re-victimized, and alone.  Through digital storytelling, personal narratives of resistance and a restored sense of dignity and compassion can bring the community together to take action.

• Digital stories can create change by informing programming, policy change and research.

ABOUT THE PARTNERS

Northwestern Ontario Women’s Centre works to create and advocate for safe and supportive environments so that women can fully engage in their lives and communities. The Centre works with women to increase their access to knowledge, skills and resources so they can make informed and strategic choices.

Community Story Strategies offers media and storytelling services to enhance community building efforts. Integrating media arts and community organizing, Community Story Strategies help groups make and share personal stories that send a powerful message.

Thunder Bay Police is committed to working in partnership with the public to serve and protect our communities in a sensitive, efficient and effective manner.

Thunder Bay Art Gallery exhibits, collects and interprets art with a particular focus on the contemporary artwork of Canadian Aboriginal and Northwestern Ontario artists. The Gallery advances the relationship between artists, their art, and the public, nurturing a life-long appreciation of contemporary visual arts among residents of, and visitors to Thunder Bay.

RESOURCES

Click here for a list of links to articles, and resources about sexual violence.