Starting in June and continuing through 2025 and 2026, the exhibition What Were You Wearing? will be held in Costa Rica. This initiative originated at the University of Arkansas and the Center for Sexual Violence Education and Prevention at the University of Kansas. The initiative aims to raise awareness about sexual violence and combat the social blame placed on survivors by mistakenly telling them that they could have avoided sexual assault by changing their clothing.
The exhibition will be presented in seven provinces thanks to the coordination of the Spanish Cultural Center, iz Solutions, Desde Cero Comunicación, the University of Costa Rica (UCR), the Technological Institute of Costa Rica (TEC), the National University (UNA), and EARTH University.
What Were You Wearing? is made up of replicas of the clothing worn by survivors of sexual abuse at the time of the assault. Each piece is accompanied by small, timely fragments of testimonies from courageous individuals who decided to share their experiences to shed light on the violence and challenge the stigmas that persist around the topic.
“The installation invites us to understand that it was never about the clothes, and that shedding those garments will never be enough to bring peace or comfort to those who have survived. It is necessary that, as a society, we question what allowed us to ask that question in the first place: ‘What were you wearing?’” details the exhibition’s official website.
National and International Impact
Once the exhibition’s touring cycle in Costa Rica concludes, the materials, including the clothing, will be available to institutions in other countries interested in presenting the exhibition, along with the audiovisual materials created in Costa Rica, which will be made available to the University of Kansas and any other interested entity for international use.
Starting in June
The opening of “What Were You Wearing?” will take place next Friday, June 6th, at 6:00 pm at the National Gallery in the Children’s Museum. It will feature an analysis of the situation of sexual violence in Costa Rica, led by Thais Aguilar, a communications professional with a master’s degree in gender studies.
It will also feature the participation of government officials, representatives of the Republic, government institutions, foundations, activists, political leaders, private companies, and the general public.
The exhibition opened for the first time in Costa Rica at the Centro Cultural de España with the support of the UNESCO Office in San José on October 10, 2018, and was designed by Jen Brockman, director of the Center for Sexual Assault Education and Prevention at the University of Kansas, and Dr. Mary Wyandt-Hiebert.
Inspired by Dr. Mary Simmerling’s poem, “What I Was Wearing,” both professionals wanted to create a project that would give the community back the responsibility of facing the answer to that question, while at the same time humanizing the survivor in that answer.
For more details about the exhibition and to be part of this commendable initiative, please contact 7180-7721, [email protected] or visit the website: What were you wearing? – CCECR
