When Pakistani human rights activist Malala Yousafzai was shot in the head on a bus by a Taliban gunman in 2012 for refusing to stop attending class, the world reacted in horror and change was sparked.
A decade later, the echos of that bullet and her painstaking work are still being felt and have inspired a group of students at Robert Bateman Secondary School’s Art Activism class to express themselves through creativity and art.
The class, consisting of Grade 9 to 12 students and led by teacher Claire Apostolopoulos, present their works entitled Women’s Issues: An Exploration of Topics That Affect Women Across the Globe on Saturday (June 17) from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Cru Studios (Unit 202 2645 Montrose Ave.) in downtown Abbotsford.
Students explored topics through large paintings such as gender inequities in sport, sexual exploitation, the wage gap, child marriage and other issues impacting woman globally.
But the course started with a novel study of the aforementioned Yousafzai and her book I Am Malala. After diving into that work, students created small portraits of women they looked up to, leading up to the final project – the art show.
On Monday (June 12), Grade 11 student Didi Brown was putting the finishing touches on a Greek mythology-inspired painting that she said represents sex trafficking and assault using the story of Persephone.
The tale of Persephone is one of being abducted by Hades and being forced into marriage with the king of the underworld.
“I wanted her to be an allegory for sex trafficking because her story is basically being abducted by an older and more powerful man and forced to live with him in the underworld,” she said, speaking of the painting called The Maiden. “I think especially with modern interpretations of it being sort of a romance story is a little problematic.”
The painting features Persephone on a black background with the infamous pomegranate in her mouth and flowers in her hair to display her innocence. There is also a large set of powerful hands looming over her.
“The hands represent a larger thing going on and the threat of a more powerful person,” she said. “It doesn’t have to be a man, but just a powerful person threatening to take her and her bodily autonomy.”
Grade 11 student Cypress Desormeaux Schmidt explored the theme of womanhood through oil paint and acrylics in a striking piece called Female Identity. The painting features a female character weighed down and stretched by the expectations of society.
“The main focus is the girl stitching herself together using thread and there are multiple body parts that she’s tried to fit but she’s limited with what she can change,” she explained of her creation. “I feel there’s only so much you can do sometimes to be accepted and it’s not just the physical aspect, sometimes you have to shift your whole personality to fit in.”
Desormeaux Schmidt said the class has taught her a lot about women’s issues and helped her tackle personal challenges such as feeling more comfortable presenting in front of her classmates.
“Every other class with presentations they have been super draining and stressful,” she said. “Just making sure my work is coherent but for this class it was stressful but when I was presenting I realized I actually know what I’m talking about and I just kept talking and it didn’t feel like a chore at all.”
Grade 9 student Lake Butterworth explored the theme of sexual assault and victim blaming. Their piece displays an empty room with clothes scattered throughout. Entitled Filthy, Butterworth said the title refers to not only the feeling of being assaulted, but also the state of the room.
“I’ve almost made it a good girls room in a way and I want to be saying here’s all the clothes the person could have been wearing and would it really have mattered what they were wearing,” she said. “And that it’s not their fault. It’s systemic and I’ve been bombarded on the topic and victim blaming is something that happens so casually, I find it so sad.”
Butterworth said she’s found that in sexual assault or rape cases that more often people are worried about hurting the future of the young man or woman who committed the assault and not the victim.
“Victim blaming is a way to clear the conscience of the people that are hearing about the assault and to shift the blame off of the perpetrator,” she said.
Apostolopoulos said she hopes her students continue creating and fighting for what they believe in.
“I hope they recognize that the arts, since the beginning of time, have been a way to try and affect social change,” she said. “And this is a really great avenue for getting that message across and reaching a wide community of people.”
Admission for Saturday’s show is $5 and select paintings are available to purchase for a $100 donation to The Canadian Women’s Foundation. For more information, visit the class on Instagram - @rbss_art.
