Project ArmHer

VIDEO DESCRIPTION:

Play, download and edit the free video Project ArmHer.

Project ArmHer is a community arts project based on the creative contributions of women with lived experience in sex work and their allies. We combine visual arts, theatre, and film resulting in a powerful multimedia performance that has been described as “an act of solidarity, empowerment, a celebration of survival.”

Project ArmHer started in 2014 as a collaborative project between SWANS (Sex Workers Advisory Network Sudbury) and Myths and Mirrors Community Arts with the goal of providing a safe space for women to create art that speaks to their experiences and raises awareness about stigmatization, violence, and lack of protection for those working in the sex work industry.

Project ArmHer’s first public performance took place in Sudbury on December 17th, 2016 on the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers. Since then it has been performed for audiences across Ontario and in Quebec. Through theatrical and artistic presentations, film screenings, and workshops we connect with other advocacy groups to form a collective voice for sex workers rights. Project ArmHer has presented at 4 conferences, held 5 public performances, and has held over 200 workshops for women with lived experience in sex work and allies, family members, and community members.

Through weekly workshops with art as the impetus and peer support crucial to the process, Project ArmHer began to grow. It took shape in the form of body maps, masks, cloaks, a life sized armour, short films, and a powerful script based on the lived experience of women in the sex industry. Together we put all the pieces together into the performance we have now and that we continue to collectively and collaboratively develop.

This work has had a rippling effect through the consciousness of our workshop participants and our audiences, encouraging them to think differently about sex work, inclusion, protection, and worth. Project ArmHer has shifted the narratives around sex work locally and contributed to the global movement of sex worker rights activism.

The work is deeply moving and humanizing. It breaks down barriers and builds bridges between all of us whether we have lived experience in sex work or not.

Project ArmHer is a call to arms, a call to resistance, and a call for radical self-love and radical collective love.

We are currently working to bring this transformational work to North Bay, Barrie, and Sault St. Marie as well as hold another highly anticipated local presentation in Sudbury. We need support to present our work and make important connections in all of these places. We would also like to develop a book that highlights the visual art and writing we are currently working on and have created over the past 5 years so that our message can reach even further.

Even though participation in Project ArmHer has inherent value for all involved, it is important to us that everyone working on the project be paid for their time and contributions. The money we raise in this campaign goes directly to the performance costs and the work involved in developing our book.

Thank you for your interest in and support of Project ArmHer!

-------

video and music by cait mitchell

Download, play and edit free videos and free audios from Project ArmHer using RedcoolMedia.net web apps