Photograph by: Hugo Gutierrez

16.10.—7.12.2025

Hearing the Silence gathers six visual artists in Rovaniemi, weaving a collective tapestry of resistance, vulnerability, and voice. These works speak to the shadowed realities of violence—against women, transgender people, and those who live and identify as women. Gender-based violence is not confined by borders; it is a global crisis, a profound wound in the body of human rights. One in three women around the world have faced physical harm, threats, or sexual violence in their lifetime.

The exhibition’s title, Hearing the Silence, speaks not to the absence of sound, but to a presence long ignored—the muteness imposed by shame, fear, and indifference. Silence is the language violence often chooses. These artists, however, choose otherwise. They offer voice—sometimes delicate, sometimes fierce—to the unseen, the unheard, the unspoken. The works do not underline; they resonate. They do not depict violence, but echo its impact, and illuminate paths of resistance.

In Simi Ruotsalainen’s video work, we witness the realities of trans people. Jonna Tolonen’s posters trace stories suspended in the air—unfinished, unresolved. Rosamaría Bolom captures resistance blooming in the streets and the artwork itself becomes a form of protest. Mari Mäkiranta’s lens reveals the inner landscape of violence—intimate, aching, human.

Patricia Rodas balances on the fragile line between trauma and transformation, asking: how do we heal? Marte Lill Somby brings the experience of Sámi women into focus, where colonialism and domestic violence intertwine.

The exhibition includes a sound installation by Jonna Tolonen, and music by Shizukana, a sonic act of resilience. Proceeds from Shizukana’s album support the Federation of Mother and Child Homes and Shelters in Finland—a gesture of solidarity made tangible.

Hearing the Silence imagines alternatives to the violent imagery and discourses. It crafts space for shared strength, collective work, and societal change. The exhibition does not re-enact harm; it listens deeply to it. No violent images are shown. Instead, you will find a chorus of resistance, affects and interpretations.

To deepen the dialogue, a public seminar will be held on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, on 25 November 2025, from 10:00 to 15:30, in the Polarium Hall at Arktikum. Researchers and artists will gather to reflect and speak together. Visitors are invited not only to hear, but to discuss.

This exhibition and seminar are part of the project Artivism on Edges – Art, Activism, and Gendered Violence (2021–2026), supported by the Kone Foundation and the Faculty of Art and Design at the University of Lapland.