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I thought I'd write some more about the New Beginnings Domestic Violence Project which has been the main project I have been working on. I am collaborating with Heather dew Oaksen, who is a well-established Seattle media artist. She is the founder of the 911 Media Arts Centre and she mainly works with public video installations as well as teaches Media Arts at Cornish College of the Arts.

From the beginning the staff at New Beginning were very open about what they wanted but one thing they were adamant on was having an outcome that reached the public eye. A major issue with Domestic Violence is breaking the silence and making people aware that there is help out there and that abuse should not be tolerated

FACT: 1 in 3 women in America will be abused by an intimate partner at some stage in her life.

We have broken the project into three stages. 1) Research and development 2) Implementation - creative development and production, and 3) Exhibtion and Distribution.

For the first stage I have attended Domestic Violence training sessions, read books, had meetings with NB advocates for the women and children and made successful relationships with the women and children housed at NB through a series of facilitated activities and a small video project. The project saw some of the young people from NB take my camera out onto the streets of Seattle and ask people where they thought Domestic Violence came from? The responses varied from being rather educated to 'it comes from poverty or low self esteems.' I edited the video together and we had a 'world premiere' screening at the Transitional House Program and invited all the women and children to come. The video really worked as a catalyst to get the women talking about what they think the world needed to know about Domestic Violence.

The women decided they wanted the world to know that 'Domestic Violence can happen to anyone.' The NB women all have very different cultures, backgrounds and lifestyles but they share a similar struggle, the struggle to escape an abusive relationship. We plan to work with the women over a two month period next year (if I can come back - fingers crossed) to generate material that will then be used to produce a public video installation piece and DVD that provides a window into the diverse and hidden worlds of Domestic Violence survivors.

I have a meeting with the women tonight where I will be giving them all a personal journal so they can start to record their thoughts and observations. It will be used as a tool to get them thinking creatively, to tap into their unique voice. Heather will meet with the women monthly to generate journal material with the women and keep them engaged until stage two of the project.

Hope that's more of an insight!
Tamsin.

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