The “Comfort Women” Project Exhibition and Interactive Installation is a “must see” exhibit on display thru Oct. 27. Open hours Saturday and Sunday 12-5p, Wednesday 5-8p.
Meet Astist Rose Camastro-Pritchett, Wednesday, Oct. 27, 5-8p at the closing reception.
Exhibit closes October 27, 2021.
The exhibition features exquisite works by Camastro-Pritchett on handmade paper along with the interactive Break the Silence: Message Board.
Read about this exhibit in the Daily Northwestern.
Photo above, "Comfort Women" Quilt Patch, 2016. 10 ½ " x 10 ½" Handmade paper, pulp painting, hand stitching, silk thread, photocopy of original 1937 map of China.
The public is invited to attend a panel discussion October 10, 2-4p, featuring artists and organizers who’s work centers on surviving sexual assault and trauma. Panel Discussion: Making Art About Horrific Subjects. This panel , panel will be limited to 25 seated guests, RSVP here.
Artist’s Statement - The “Comfort Women” Project
“Comfort women” was the euphemism that the Japanese military used to describe the women rounded up with violence and coercion to become their sex slaves. In 1940, “comfort” stations (brothels) had been set up in China by the Japanese military and were in continual, widespread operation. The military expanded and moved these “comfort” stations to follow the areas of combat in other countries extending to the end of WWII. By war's end, there were over 2,000 “comfort” stations and over 200,000 women from Japan, China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Korea and Indochina, including Dutch colonialists, who had been forced to become “comfort women.” Japanese military commanders were fully complicit in procuring women and developing and operating “comfort” stations. They kept detailed records.
For the past eight years I have been working on the “Comfort Women” Project, a body of work based on intensive research. It is dedicated to the “comfort women” and all those who have survived sexual violence, sexual abuse and sexual harassment. Hand sewing is my medium, traditional women’s work. The “Comfort Women” Project includes interactive group installations, round table discussions and collaborations with colleges and organizations dealing with sexual violation.
Break the Silence: Message Board
Break the Silence: Message Board is a traveling interactive installation that Rose Camastro-Pritchett created with students at Menlo College, Atherton, California in 2018. With the assistance of Awakenings Gallery student interns from the University of Chicago, the Message Board has expanded and is currently included in the Embodying Justice Exhibition at Awakenings Gallery, Chicago, IL. A new interpretation of the Message Board will be at 1100 Florence Gallery as part of the “Comfort Women” Project Exhibition.
Intent: Break the Silence is an interactive installation to break the silence surrounding sexual abuse, sexual violence, and sexual harassment. The intent is to demonstrate the breadth of the problem, the trauma of the survivors, and the impact on society. The installation prompts people to write their thoughts and feelings about a personal experience, an experience of friends or family, or their feelings about the situation at large, without names or personal narratives. The messages are written on index cards and posted on the Message Board.
People can visit and fill out an online, anonymous form, or in person at the gallery. Their entries will then be transcribed onto 3x5 cards and placed in the gallery windows. There will also be a station inside the gallery for people to share prompts.
Click here to visit the form on the Awakenings Website.
Photo: Image taken at the Menlo College 2018, Break the Silence: Message Board installation.
Rose Camastro-Pritchett Bio
Rose Camastro-Pritchett has exhibited in England, North Wales, Germany, Greece, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Switzerland, China and the United States. She has received awards, grants and residencies for her work, including a work-in-progress performance for the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. Rose has had her own art school, conducted community art projects, and has taught in schools and colleges in the United States, Saudi Arabia, Italy and China. Her MS Ed. in Counseling Education is from Western Illinois University. Her MFA is from Columbia College Chicago in Interdisciplinary Book & Paper Arts.
See more of Rose’s work at rosecamastropritchett.com
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1100 Florence Gallery is located in the West Village Arts District in Evanston, on the NW corner of Florence and Greenleaf Avenues.
Visit the gallery by appointment (call or text 847-544-8205) or during open hours Saturdays & Sundays 12-5p.