Share Tweet Share Email

‘Safe/Unsafe: A Collaborative Documentary Project’ call for participation

September 14, 2016

safe-space-portrait“Safe/Unsafe” is a project designed to collect people’s personal stories about feeling safe and/or unsafe in different spaces. “Safe Space” has become a common phrase used to describe spaces where a person can feel safe expressing and being themselves, without fear of being violated, harassed or judged, no matter their gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, religious affiliation, economic class, citizenship status or disability. Yet, as media headlines attest, there are many people who no longer feel secure even in spaces that they once thought of as safe—whether it be LGBTQ+ people in gay bars, or women walking in their own neighborhoods.

We invite participants to submit two photographs, one that reflects a space where you feel safe, and one that reflects a space where you feel fearful, harassed or disrespected. Along with your images, we ask that you submit a brief statement explaining why the images reflect your safe space and unsafe space. We will collect these images in order to create a digital archive of images and accompanying text/stories. We will also display a printed exhibit of the project in spring 2017. Images and stories should be submitted to wgs@niu.edu by Monday, Nov. 28, 2016.

For more information about the project and submission guidelines, visit niu.edu/cswgs/news/events/Collaborative-Art-Project. If you have questions contact Rebekah Kohli directly at rkohli@niu.edu or 815-753-1044.

This project is sponsored by the NIU Center for the Study of Women, Gender & Sexuality.