An exhibition entitled The Last Mask featuring the photos, masks and stories of24 women who have experienced domestic violence is on display in Hanoi.
The 49 photos taken by photographer Jamie Maxtone-Graham portray thewomen who are all members of clubs set up by the Centre for Studies and AppliedSciences in Gender, Family, Women and Adolescents (CSAGA).
The Last Maskproject was conceived by Paul Zetter of Ensemble Creative, a long-time creativepartner of CSAGA, as a way of helping women to find creative expression fortheir stories and experiences that seek to engage, not alienate, new audiencesso a better understanding of domestic violence and the issues around it can bebuilt up in society.
Over three days in January, a group of 24 women fromthe clubs told stories, sang songs, played theatre games and made masks helpedby a group of young artists.
When the masks were complete, photographerJamie Maxtone Graham then took portrait photos including the masks so that thewomen made up one chain of experience, solidarity and togetherness.
“Liketheir stories, these women are all unique but they have this thing they shareand are united in it – both in their experience of domestic violence and intheir admission of it. That admission, that is the really difficult work,” saidthe photographer.
Some, as people can see, conceal their faces behindtheir masks. Perhaps they can tell why or people can guess. Some peer out a bitfrom behind, half hidden, partially revealed. And then there are the women whoare not concealed in any way.
“This was a fairly quick project made witha group of highly committed, creative people from four different countries, 24amazing Vietnamese women who have experienced often extreme gender violence anda very small budget,” said project designer Paul Zetter.
“We hope itbrings people together in a space where they feel safe to reveal what’s reallyimportant to them,” he said.
The exhibition will run until Friday, at 45Trang Tien Street , Hanoi./.
The 49 photos taken by photographer Jamie Maxtone-Graham portray thewomen who are all members of clubs set up by the Centre for Studies and AppliedSciences in Gender, Family, Women and Adolescents (CSAGA).
The Last Maskproject was conceived by Paul Zetter of Ensemble Creative, a long-time creativepartner of CSAGA, as a way of helping women to find creative expression fortheir stories and experiences that seek to engage, not alienate, new audiencesso a better understanding of domestic violence and the issues around it can bebuilt up in society.
Over three days in January, a group of 24 women fromthe clubs told stories, sang songs, played theatre games and made masks helpedby a group of young artists.
When the masks were complete, photographerJamie Maxtone Graham then took portrait photos including the masks so that thewomen made up one chain of experience, solidarity and togetherness.
“Liketheir stories, these women are all unique but they have this thing they shareand are united in it – both in their experience of domestic violence and intheir admission of it. That admission, that is the really difficult work,” saidthe photographer.
Some, as people can see, conceal their faces behindtheir masks. Perhaps they can tell why or people can guess. Some peer out a bitfrom behind, half hidden, partially revealed. And then there are the women whoare not concealed in any way.
“This was a fairly quick project made witha group of highly committed, creative people from four different countries, 24amazing Vietnamese women who have experienced often extreme gender violence anda very small budget,” said project designer Paul Zetter.
“We hope itbrings people together in a space where they feel safe to reveal what’s reallyimportant to them,” he said.
The exhibition will run until Friday, at 45Trang Tien Street , Hanoi./.
