The National Gallery’s artwork of the week is ‘Hear No Evil’ by Mercy Moyo. The painting depicts “a group of women who seem to be gossiping about a woman who is standing alone and looking very sad.”
The painting touches on a very serious societal issue–violence against women. The irony in this picture is that the perpetrators of this violence are not the usual male suspects, but fellow women verbally abusing one of their own.
According to the painting description, ‘emotional and psychological violence can be hugely damaging, even though the outward signs may not be obvious. Psychological violence can make the victim feel frightened, lose their self-esteem and stand in the way of them seeking help’.
This week’s painting coincides with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. The day set aside for the commemoration is November 25, 2016. The premise of the day is to raise awareness of the fact that women around the world are subject to sexual abuse, domestic violence and many other forms of violence. Furthermore, one of the aims of the day is to highlight that the scale and true nature of the issue is often hidden.
November 25 to December 10 have been set aside world over to commemorate 16 Days of Activism against gender-based violence.
