New Year Greetings and Immediate Plan Of Action and So Much More :
Blank Noise
To our Blank Noise community
Our celebrated Action Heroes, both near and far
Here's wishing you a fearless 2016!
A year of dialogue, imagination, desire.
A year closer to ending victim blame
A year of solidarity and kindness.
Happy New Year!
2016 begins with the following:
Web launch: Moments Of A Long Pause
The video brings strangers across five cities to a conversation on street sexual harassment.
The video was made in 2008, and is now online. It has been edited to be viewed on a single screen. The original format is an installation ( where two monitors are speaking with each other).
Event: Meet To Sleep
The next Meet To Sleep is on January 16th, 2016. This makes it the 10th Meet To Sleep!
We Meet To Sleep, so that it know what it feels like to sleep in the open, in our very own parks. We do this to shift the fear based relationship we have been taught to have, in a given environment of warnings. We do this question fear, and to initiate a dialogue on trust. We do this to try and feel defenceless.
The event is self organised and mobilised, ie. individuals express interest and are matched with other individuals in that place. Anyone participating is called an 'Action Hero'. Event guidelines will be emailed. We have confirmations from Action Heroes Bangalore, Pune, Karachi ( Girls At Dhabas), Jaipur, Delhi!
Step in from where you are. Take a nap. Make a place safe by being there as your Action Hero self.
' Action Hero ' Calendar : Fund Raiser
2016 calendars are here! We have them on sale as a fund raiser for the
I Never Ask For It campaign. To get one, do email us. Last day to order Jan 16th. 2016!
I Never Ask For It Open House in Bangalore :
This is an invite to individuals, organisations, campuses, activists to build dialogue to end victim blame. We are organising a focussed group meeting and sharing the campaign overview so far. Welcome your thoughts, ideas and collaboration. I Never Ask For It.
Date: 23rd January. 2016. Location: Goethe Institute.
We are also really pleased to announce that after 12 years of being purely volunteer led, Blank Noise has now become a registered trust. Our first two trustees are Jasmeen Patheja ( founder Blank Noise) and Karuna Nundy ( Advocate, Supreme Court). More trustees will be joining us very shortly. Link
We wish for a year , closer to eradicating victim blame. To resonate in growing strength with the belief that there is no excuse for sexual and gender based violence.
Bangalore Pride, a team of students/ Action Heroes from Srishti Institute Of Art Design and Technology asked " What do you wish for ? "
The late Action Hero Suzette Jordan won the case in the Calcutta sessions court. Suzette had tackled character assassination and blame for the gangrape. From police stations, media, court room and even early public memory. A timeline of her case is here . It is currently being edited and is work in progress.
We continue to work with full force towards building a large scale installation of garments to end victim blame. In 2016, we look forward to research, collaborations, workshops, talks , interventions, live action, fund raisers, new projects and much more. We look forward to working with you. Sign up to volunteer and or intern with Blank Noise in 2016.
And last but not the least.
Shout out to the Fabulous Action Heroes in 2015
Here's to you!
Aarushi Kilawa
Aayush Bhingare
Abhishek Chaudhury
Abhisikta Dasgupta
Akila K
Akash Nandi
Amalie Vikse
Ameya Gutta
Amrita Ganguly
Anandi Sharan
Anubhav Pradhan
Anukriti Singh
Aru Bhartiya
Asfiya Farheen
Atreyeee Majumdar
Benjamin Stewart
Bhawana Udhani
Chirag Sharma
Denisse Albornoz
Divya Gulecha
Diya Pinto
Farya Lokhandwala
Garima Gupta
Geetu George
Ila Bhat
Insiya Poonawala
Inti Maria
Ishani Ghose
Jayati Sood
Jesril Bastina
Judith Druhe
Kaustubh Srikanth
Kinnary Doshi
Kiri Meili
Lakshmi Kakodkar
Lijya Perayil
Mahesha Hiremath
Malin Mendel Westberg
Malini Roy
Manpreet Singh
Maria del Rio Sanin
Maria Emille Burge
Meenal Jain
Megha Bhagat
Mishaal Shetty
Monica Nanjunda
Naksha Erappa
Nandini Nagarajan
Neeha Mujeeb
Nia Chari
Nirbheek Chauhan
Ojasvi Singh
Palak Khandelwal
Parul Khanna
Pragati KB
Pushpa Achanta
Dr. Preeti Chawla
Preeti Govindraja
Priloza
Pooja Kumar
Radhika Sinha
Rajalakshmi Rajagopal
Rashi Sinha
Rishita Nandagiri
Ritu Ganguli
Rupali Arora
Saptarshi Chakraborty
Satya Gummuluri
Satyashree Sethia
Sayali Patwardhan
Seema Nair
Shailaja
Shilpa Goyal
Shreyansh
Shruti Chandrashekharan
Shristi Banerjee
Silvana Rigobon
Sufiya Jay
Suhas Gokul
Sunayana Roy
Sukriti Suryavanshi
Supriya
Suruchi Sharma
Swati Khaitan
Tashu Puri
Teresa Gomes
Tharunya Balan
Viji Chari
Vira Mistry
Wolfram Thurm
Yamini Deen
Yasmeen Taj S
