ACT / HEAD Project ‘Torture Must End Now’
During June to July 2024, Artistes Contre la Torture (ACT) organized an exhibition at Quai Wilson, Geneva, in partnership with the Haute École d’Art et de Design de Genève (HEAD-Genève).
“No one shall be subjected to torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman, degrading or inhuman treatment or punishment” states the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. It is to uphold this promise that ACT proposes to bridge art and human rights.
For this exhibition, ACT invited 11 students from HEAD-Genève to share their work inspired by this promise. With the support of Professor Bruno Serralongue and invited artist Dorian Sari, the young artists created pieces of art to call for the respect of the absolute prohibition of torture. In the eyes of the young artists, torture includes mental and physical torture, modern-day slavery, as well as the issue of gender-based violence. Each young artist used a unique approach and visual language in their works of art.
ACT is an association that mobilises against torture through art and supports the actions of the Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT) and the protection of prisoners by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
The details and images from each young artist are below.
Thank you to the young artists:
Weiyu Chen, Marta Silva Coelho, Loane Colatruglio, Razene El Mestaysser, Agathe Heilmann, Sandra Lumingu, Alice Malherbe & Iris Nguyen Van, Olha Melnyk (aka Nina Mári), Eli Pournin, and Mel Weiland.
With the support of the Ville de Genève
HEAD Artists 2024
Agathe Heilmann
What connection is there between a place and what we do there? When it comes to torture and ill-treatment, none. Any space, whether an old school, a hospital or a prison, can be hijacked to become the scene of violence. For the Artists Against Torture association, I...
Elisa Pournin
HEAD Artists 2024
Mel Wieland
“Shut up or I'll leave you on the side of the road (and the wolves will come and eat you)” Mel Wieland, born in 1996 in Geneva, is a trans scenographer, painter and microtechnician of Swiss-Peruvian origin. In his pictorial works, Mel addresses the theme of...
Loane Colatruglio
A world without cages is a work that approaches the notion of torture in an open manner with different perspectives, inviting the viewer to reflect on this powerful subject. By connecting the series of numbered points, a meaningful sentence emerges. These quotes offer...
Weiyu Chen
In the work, OKMAN is a calm, neutral figure who expresses his inner emotions and perception of the world through body language. This reserved character symbolizes the fear and shyness of each individual victim of abuse. But whether individually or collectively, we...
Marta Silva Coelho
For some time now, my projects have been carried out in collaboration with other people, where the exchange becomes fundamental and an innovative driving force. Relationships with others are built on a horizontal plane, which allows me to access their personal...
Razene El Mestaysser
The first step to achieve violence, hatred, torture even to the point of genocide is dehumanization. Unfortunately, it is a practice that is far too commonplace, particularly against racialized people. In my project I wanted to question the empathy of spectators by...
Iris Nguyen Van and Alice Malherbe
The two of us worked on this project because it particularly affected us. This series of photographs denounces violence against women around the world, based on certified statistics which interact with the photos. We really wanted to create a strong contrast with, on...
Sandra Lumingu
In this project I question the problem of online and offline surveillance as well as the memory of gestures in spaces where torture has taken place. Based on real places where lives were shattered, I generated fictitious places using artificial intelligence, in which...
Olha Melnyk (Nina Mári)
My artistic practice is based on research into social processes. I find the method of using bright colors to highlight a problematic topic to be very effective. After all, the human eye prefers a "beautiful" image. Thus, I seem to seduce the spectator who, without...