> Sex workers bare history
Sex workers bare history
Contact:
Shanthi Besso, 604.291.5201, shanthib@sfu.ca
Susan Jamieson-McLarnon, PAMR, 604.291.5151, Susan_Jamieson-McLarnon@sfu.ca
Shanthi Besso, 604.291.5201, shanthib@sfu.ca
Susan Jamieson-McLarnon, PAMR, 604.291.5151, Susan_Jamieson-McLarnon@sfu.ca
April 4, 2007
A multimedia art installation and book chronicling the history of Vancouver sex workers will be showcased on April 12 at the Lamplighter Café in Vancouver’s Dominion Hotel, 210 Abbott Street.
The launch culminates two years of work by a group of local sex workers who completed the project through SFU’s Continuing Studies community education program.
“We're now engaged in trying to secure labour rights for sex workers,” says Susan Davis, a sex worker who helped spearhead the undertaking. “When you're engaged in a civil rights movement, you have to know your history in order to have pride."
The installation includes photo collages exploring a variety of themes such as law and enforcement and the sex worker movement, soundscapes of Vancouver over the past 120 years, and interviews with project participants. Local consulting artist Anne Marie Slater was a collaborator on the project.
Shanthi Besso, SFU program coordinator, notes: “The group examined the history of Vancouver's sex workers through such diverse lenses as labour and human rights, instead of through the victim lens that is so prevalent in mainstream media.”
SFU helped with fundraising and administration and provided workshops for participants on everything from internet and library research techniques to Vancouver history.
The April 12 launch begins with a reception at 7:30 pm followed by a live music and burlesque show at 8:30 pm. Tickets for the launch are $10 at the door. The installation will remain in the Dominion lobby until May 3.
The launch culminates two years of work by a group of local sex workers who completed the project through SFU’s Continuing Studies community education program.
“We're now engaged in trying to secure labour rights for sex workers,” says Susan Davis, a sex worker who helped spearhead the undertaking. “When you're engaged in a civil rights movement, you have to know your history in order to have pride."
The installation includes photo collages exploring a variety of themes such as law and enforcement and the sex worker movement, soundscapes of Vancouver over the past 120 years, and interviews with project participants. Local consulting artist Anne Marie Slater was a collaborator on the project.
Shanthi Besso, SFU program coordinator, notes: “The group examined the history of Vancouver's sex workers through such diverse lenses as labour and human rights, instead of through the victim lens that is so prevalent in mainstream media.”
SFU helped with fundraising and administration and provided workshops for participants on everything from internet and library research techniques to Vancouver history.
The April 12 launch begins with a reception at 7:30 pm followed by a live music and burlesque show at 8:30 pm. Tickets for the launch are $10 at the door. The installation will remain in the Dominion lobby until May 3.