Collective action organised by the students of the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
“I swear, Mum, I died fighting.
I swear, my dear Mum, I screamed loudly just as I flew high.”
The words of Peruvian activist Cristina Torre Cáceres, written in 2011, are once again igniting today’s debate, with the same power and relevance as the day they were written; as powerful as the words of Elena Cecchettin, sister of Giulia Cecchettin, who was killed by her ex-boyfriend in the night of 11-12 November 2023.
A few days after the events in Veneto, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, established on 17 December 1999 by the United Nations General Assembly, marks the start of the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence that precede 10 December, the International Human Rights Day.
Violence against women is a violation of human rights that is all too often considered a matter of exclusively female responsibility, subject to generalisations that aim to remove responsibility from the individual because they are “innocent” and to fail to recognise a serious, deep-rooted cultural problem, the moral responsibility for which falls on all of us. As Michela Murgia lucidly wrote, “no one is innocent if they believe they are only responsible for themselves”.
The Academy of Fine Arts in Rome, having already taken part in the international mobilisation with the conference “Sorella, Io ti credo” on 25 March, is firmly committed to the demonstrations on 25 November at the request of the student body.
Teachers and students unite in a choral cry of dissent to say stop to violence and reject a patriarchal culture rooted in our consciences, recalling once again the value of the freedom of others and the assumption that no one has the right to exercise their power over another individual.
On 25 November, starting at 10:30 am,0, a collective action will take place at the Via Ripetta site,collective action, which will take the form of a moment of sharing through artistic language, in which everyone is invited to participate, so that it is not the cry of just one person, but that of everyone, to really make noise. Those who wish to take part in the initiative are invited to wear something red. Some of the posters, made during the event, will be taken to the march organised in Rome by the transfeminist movement ”Non Una Di Meno” on the occasion of the anniversary.
”But, for what you want most, don’t tie my sister up.
Don’t lock up my cousins, don’t deprive your granddaughters.
It’s not your fault, Mum, and it wasn’t mine either.
It’s them, it will always be them.
Fight for their wings, those wings that they cut off me.
Fight for them, so that they can be free to fly higher than me.
Fight to scream louder than me.
[…]
If tomorrow it’s me, Mum, if I don’t come back tomorrow, destroy everything.
If tomorrow is my turn, I want to be the last.”
ANTI-VIOLENCE HELPLINE 1522
Signal for Help
Communications Office of the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome
Coordination: Prof. Guglielmo Gigliotti g.gigliotti@abaroma.it
Collaboration: Chiara Picco, Marianna Pontillo comunicazione@abaroma.it