Torch

Issue date: 4/16/08 Section: News

Media Credit: TORCH PHOTO/LAURA AMATO T-shirts hanging on the Great Lawn symbolize the amount of violence against women that occurs around the world.

A national campaign honoring women who have survived violence is being held on the Queens campus.

The Clothesline Project (CLP), which will be displayed on the Great Lawn, allows women who have suffered from violence or know anyone who has suffered, to design shirts in order to raise awareness and to promote healing.

The shirts will be hung on a clothesline from 11:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. from April 15-17.

"I was familiar with the Clothesline Project, and thought it was a way to have the campus community think and talk about the violence that exists against women and girls in a way that is educational and also interactive and helpful as part of the healing process," said sociology and anthropology professor Judith Ryder, who was instrumental in getting the project on the Queens campus.

"The Clothesline Project provides an avenue for people to talk about a difficult and stigmatizing subject through art," she explained.

CLP began in 1990, when 31 shirts were displayed in Hyannis, Massachusetts, part of "Take Back the Night," an annual march and rally aimed at combating violence against women.

CLP was then featured in Ms Magazine. After that, it was featured in more magazines, including USA Weekend and Shape. Now, there are more than 500 projects around the country, and between 50,000-60,000 shirts have been designed.

According to the official CLP Web site, visual artist Rachel Carey-Harper started the clothesline because she was inspired by the AIDS quilt.

"Coming out of the dark about being mistreated isn't just about personal liberation if someone chooses to design [or] make a T-shirt, but the symbolism of the clothesline is key," said Kendra Chiu, a senior at St. John's, and the president of sociology honor society Alpha Kappa Delta.

She said that the amount of shirts hanging on the clothesline symbolizes how often violence against women occurs.

Chiu said that the clothesline "can get the attention of those who were previously oblivious to it." She added, "Attention turns into consciousness, and consciousness into change."

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