Day two in review!

Today was dense in an unexpected, powerful way.We spent a significant portion of the day learning about human trafficking in Cyprus and sex workers.

“Sex trafficking is an omnipresent thing here” -Evi Tselika

As we unwound tonight Doris exclaimed “we really have been learning at every juncture here…..everything is new”. Although it is true that as Americans we are well aware of human trafficking and immigration issues, the dialogue and labeling in Cyprus is still emerging. The conversation and issues had a raw and emotive tension – we spent the evening ingesting the day.

Lindsey, Sharon and Christine debriefing.

The Cypriot presenter Susanna Pavlou from The Mediterranean Institute for Gender Studies shared some stats on the representation (both quantitative and qualitative) of women in Cypriot traditional news media. The issues around the sex industry, human trafficking and immigration are still lacking representation and critique in news. While the media has not significantly covered the stories of these individuals and the issues at large, we met several artists who have been actively responding. Evi Tselika who is receiving her Phd in social engagement helped produce a documentary piece that is gaining press about sex trafficking of immigrant women (who include Russian, Moldovian, Chinese and South East Asian women) in the South of Cyprus.

Of course feminism emerged as a continuous thread in our conversation throughout the day. Cypriot artist Heleniq posed “is the subjective experience of being a women today best served with the term feminism?” What is the legacy of this promise? How do we move forward when the word feminism has been dismantled, rejected by gender equality groups and activists?

As artists we must consider how we engage with our subject, our personal life and our social experience. It’s easy to have monologues, esp. through social media, but how do we activate our communities and bring social and political impact though our work?

Are you inherently an activist as an artist engaging with social issues?

Night,

Lindsey and Maya

Below are videos we saw/organizations we were introduced to

Coffee Break:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USaDJ07Fxg0&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Male prostitution video:

http://womenlobby.org/spip.php?article1792&lang=en

Artos Foundation:

http://www.artosfoundation.org/

Trafficking:

http://www.helenbamber.org/Journey_NYC.html