3.3.05

DID YOU ASK FOR IT

Dear Modest and Immodest,

Blank Noise asks you to discard one garment that you wore when you were sexually harassed or 'eve teased' in a public space.

This collective building installation of clothes seeks to defy the assumption that we 'ask for it', or that only people in 'provocative' clothes; 'immodest women' get eve teased.

take a stand. stop blaming yourself. your clothes. your body. Build testimonies.

The Blank Noise Team




Blank Noise was initiated in 2003. In its first phase Blank Noise comprised of a series of workshops conducted with a group of nine girls from the Srishti School of Art Design and Technology. The workshop explored the public and private identities of the nine girls and was translated into an exhibition for an audience that was viewed as victim, perpetrator, or mute spectators of street harassment.

In its current stage, Blank Noise is seeking wider participation and audiences. The project is currently located on Brigade Road. A series of performative and participatory experiments involving the public will be conducted on this site.

Within Blank Noise, one of the experiments being conducted is “DID YOU ASK FOR IT? ” When attacked on the streets the first thing we look at is our clothing. We question if we ‘provoked’ or ‘asked to be made victim’. The garment worn at that point of time contains a memory and is witness to an experience thus becoming a testimony.

Taking this notion forward, I wish to build testimonies through a gathering of clothes given by all those who have experienced sexual threat/ attack on the streets, and have at that point questioned if they asked for it. These clothes will contribute to the making of a public art installation.

Blank Noise is not a gender specific project and I look forward to your participation.

There is power in numbers. I have faith in the collective.


The supporting material and further information will be provided on request.

Ph: + 9198868 40612

1 comment:

Edinburgh AnarchaFeminist Kolektiv said...

Thank you so much for doing this project. It is so inspiring to me that you are doing this, and fills me with so much hope and belief in the power of women.

I grew up in Pune and started recieving leering glances and comments from men at the age of 12. As if puberty isn't stressfull enough, attracting sexual attention from adult men was extremely intimidating and made me feel even more awkward and wrong about my body than i already did at this time.

But it seemed that no matter how much I covered myself up, (at this age i dressed like a boy in trousers and baggy t-shirts) men seemed to think that it was acceptable to approach me, stare at me like a sex object, and on several occassions phsyically harass me in crowds when no one could see.

I think girls are taught to blame themselves for this kind of attention, rather than laying the blame where it squarely lies - with these men and a society which allows these kinds of attitudes towards girls and women to develop.

This project is much needed and brings joy to my heart! Thanks again,(from a member of edinburgh anarcha-feminist kollektiv)