today I am posting a call for all those Scandinavians out there:
Partnersearch for a Norden Nordic Fund Project
ABOUT
We all have our thoughts about prostitution. We all know what it is about – and yet, what do we really know. Behind all the stereotypes and all the bright faces we see on TV, has any of us ever had a proper talk with individuals involved in prostitution? Do we get to know them, meet them for a coffee, and treat them just like any other person in our circle of friends?
Most of us don´t. Because without realizing it, we have taught these women to live as one of the most stigmatized groups of all at the edge of society. We allow them to co-exist, but with a steady judging side look upon them. Assuming they chose their work by free will, assuming they live happily, and simply enjoy sexual interaction. With this project our goal is to present some of these
women and their real stories. We want to show human beings that do feel pain, that had a childhood, and that still have dreams. We want to unfold the big “why”some people chose that path, and why others never had a chance. We want to give a life to those, that others merely see as products.
Our aim is to tackle the stereotypes and baseless opinions about women involved in prostitution through the art that we do. By all means of documentation we want to tell the stories of some of these women and to show what it means to live their lives through their words.
Since a long while Latvia based artist Hanuka Lohrengel feels the urge to share her memories as a Social Worker providing help to street prostitutes in Riga. She has started creating a Graphic Novel with the title “Big City Violets”, and has already presented it´s first draft at the Ligatura Comic Pitching Festival 2015 in Poland. The novel will contain the real stories of human trafficking victims, women that came to prostitution through poverty, through pimping, and drugs. But it will also show the deeply hidden beauty of those women, their dignity and their inner pride. The idea was to create honest, authentic material that will make people see the reality behind the glorious curtain of the prostitution business through an easier access than a written report. Graphic Novels can both relate to adults, as well as to a younger audience.
Meanwhile Lithuania based artist Eglė Plytnikaitė is collecting information about prostitution victims in her country and trying to gain their trust. Her goal is to write their stories in a creative nonfiction manner and illustrate them with her works. This way the documentation of real, tragic and also very brave stories would be told in the appealing way and attract a wider audience.
However, we feel that we need to get more information in order to create a more realistic picture
what does it mean to become a victim of prostitution and human trafficking. We are getting in touch with more and more victims and getting closer to them but that takes a lot of time and a lot of our resources.
PARTNERSHIP
We are looking for artist or Cultural and Social Institutions and Organizations in Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden) or Greenland, the Faroe Islands and Åland or Estonia.
Artists that would be ready to join this project can chose to participate by creating their own documentation about the issue through any means of art. We are
open to every proposal and any new ideas would be gladly appreciated.
We are also searching for Social Institutions working with victims of prostitution and human trafficking which are willing to share their experiences. We believe that we must get all the possible information about working with the victims and collaboration with other Nordic
countries would be more than helpful.
Our Pre-project (deadline 17.09.2015) is designed to make the new contacts, get more information and organize various workshops connected with the subject. This way we hope to attract more organizations and artist and be ready to apply our Pilot-project by 07.03.2016
Please contact us at
hanuka.lohrengel@gmail.com
or
egle.plytnikaite@gmail.com
l.w. 