This story contains mention of sexual misconduct and Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. Those in need of support can call the Ottawa Distress Centre Crisis Line: 613-238-3311, the Sexual Assault Support Center of Ottawa Crisis Line: 613-234-2266 or the 24/7 National MMIWG Support Line: 1-844-413-6649.
To commemorate sexual assault awareness week at Carleton University, the Expressions of Survivors & Allies art exhibit featured several compelling student art pieces.
Students focused on healing and growth, both as individuals and as a community. Expressions aimed to break down stigmas around assault and advocate for stronger campus services by encouraging survivors to share their stories.
Expressions ran from Jan. 22 to Jan. 24 at Nideyinan’s Galleria and Jan. 25 to Jan. 26 in the CUSA Wellness Centre. Raven’s Student Life, alongside the Student Experience Office (SEO) and Campus Safety Services (CSS), coordinated Expressions.
Arleth Lugo Ruiz, an SEO student pride festival coordinator and third-year sociology student, said she wanted Expressions to embody the collectively healing nature of sexual assault awareness week.
“Practice of the arts, of all types, can be very healing, introspective and therapeutic,” Ruiz said in an email to the Charlatan. “I felt that others might share that feeling and want a place to share their feelings.”
Ruiz said conversations around sexual and gender-based violence are important to prevent further occurrences on Carleton’s campus.
“It is important that many departments come together to put events on throughout the week to demonstrate a community of care for survivors, to show that Carleton cares about supporting survivors and preventing sexual violence,” Ruiz said.
Expressions’ keynote speaker Yamikani Msosa, executive director of the Ottawa Coalition To End Violence Against Women, said they spoke on opening night because it was a testament of possibility and change.
“When I think of violence-free futures, I think about the integration of art as a possibility model,” Msosa said. “Our storytellers are activists, have been artists [and] curators of resistance.”
Msosa shared a southern African Indigenous philosophy called ubuntu, which loosely translates to “I am because we are.” Msosa said ubuntu means collectivity, care and an ability to see humanity in one another.
“It draws on the connection between consent culture and [ending] rape culture,” they said. “If we want to get serious about ending rape culture, it can’t just be on campus. It has to be everywhere.”
Tessa Porco, a third-year women and gender studies student, said she decided to showcase an artistic work at Expressions that she created for a class about Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG).
Her Expressions submission featured a bright red handprint placed on a drum, symbolizing the women and girls who have been silenced.
“For me, [creating] it was a good experience but it was hard at the same time,” Porco, who is a part of the Ojibwe community, said. “It’s a way to get your feelings out.”
Porco said her piece focused on centring Indigenous voices and bringing attention to Indigenous women and girls who have experienced sexual misconduct. She said she felt a strong connection to her project, as her grandmother’s sister was a MMIWG victim.
“No one’s exempt from any kind of sexual abuse, no matter your age, gender or race,” Porco said. “[I want people] to be more aware of it happening everywhere and be more understanding and compassionate.”
Fourth-year sociology student Karina Leclair presented a scrapbook at Expressions about their healing and growth. Through drawings, quotes and self-portraits, the scrapbook detailed their navigation through the aftermaths of their assault and journey coming out as non-binary.
While some of the scrapbook pieces are a few years old, Leclair said they included pieces that continue to resonate with them.
“It’s called my story book. It’s my journey through the last six months of my healing and my growth,” Leclair said. “One of the pieces I have in there [is the] quote, ‘You will know the truth by the way it feels.’ A huge thing I learned in the past six months is to trust myself.”
With the help of family and friends, Leclair received the support they needed from the Ottawa Rape Crisis Centre. They now express and heal through their art, where they “can show and be whoever they want.”
They added art is always evolving through personal changes and the people surrounding you.
“Art is so healing because you put yourself into it,” Leclair said. “I feel like I can show and be whoever I want and art tells us messages. Your art knows better than you how you’re doing.”
They expressed the importance of initiatives such as Expressions in allowing individuals to connect through stories and art.
“I am a survivor of sexual assault and to me, hearing other people’s stories is incredibly inspiring,” they said. “What inspired me to get help was through other people’s stories and having people in my life encouraging me to get help.”
Featured image by Anya Swettenham/the Charlatan.
