The
MA Marketing and MA Consumption Culture and Marketing students have finished
their classes and are now busy working on their dissertations. People are
enjoying the sunshine and the weather is perfect for picnics in Windsor Great
Park. This is also a time of year where students spend time with the friends
they have made and reflect on the year they have spent at Royal Holloway. Often,
memorable experiences come not only from the lectures and class discussions,
but also extra-curricular activities and field trips.
Yuanqianqian Yuan (Chaine) is a current student on the MA
Consumption, Culture and Marketing. Below she reports on volunteering to help
at an exhibition showing art work from an arts based research project in a
women’s refuge.
'On
an ordinary day in my daily life, I received an invitation to an art exhibition
called “Displaced” held by Royal Holloway in collaboration with Solace Women’s
Aid. Out of curiosity and interest, I applied to be the volunteer at the
exhibition. At that moment, I did not realize it would be a significant
experience in my life.
The
exhibition on 1st and 2nd November was part of a research
project conducted in a woman’s refuge during summer 2016 by Dr Vicki Harman, Dr
Benedetta Cappellini, Dr Susana Campos and other team members from Solace
Women’s Aid. The project focused on the role of women’s possessions when they
were rebuilding social identities after domestic abuse. A group of participants
produced artwork to reflect objects: loved objects, lost objects, wanted
objects and hated objects. Furthermore, they also created portraits of each
other and partial self-portraits for a composite piece. The emerging artwork
offers a powerful commentary on the role of possessions in the lives of women who
experienced domestic violence.
The
exhibition displayed in Bedford Square and Founder’s building lasted for two
days. During the period, many professors and students from different majors
came to visit and communicate with each other on their perspectives of women’s
status, domestic violence, equality, feminism etc. Beyond that, they also took
part in a public activity replicating the composite self-portraits’ piece. Susana
(the artist) and I talked about women all over the world who are subjected to
different forms of violence. Many are disrespected, but more terribly, plenty
of women do not realize they are victims, or that they are harmed by this
phenomenon. We also talked about the disadvantaged position resulting from
escaping domestic violence and the fact that victims take few possessions with
them. I was extremely excited to find that more and more individuals are
drawing attention to this issue and are committed to promote equality between
men and women. As a volunteer, I was so proud that I participated in the
exhibition, appreciated impressive artwork, exchanged and acquired different
values from groups of people'.
Dr
Benedetta Cappellini will present a paper based on this research at the Consumer
Culture Theory Conference 2017 9-12th July 2017.
More information about the project can be found at:
You
can read more about the MA Consumption, Culture and Marketing at:
