During the Women’s Worlds/Mundos de Mujeres 2008 conference in Madrid, we had the opportunity to view the Bellas Durmientes / Sleeping Beauties exhibit and meet the artist.  María María Acha, a visual artist from Lima, Peru, who currently resides in Spain, initiated and compiled the exhibit.  It’s based in a collaborative project of artists and activists to make the many women killed by domestic violence visible, to condemn this violence, and to pay homage to the women’s lives –“Sleeping Beauties honors those women who never will wake up and remember us, we can´t forget the tragedy of their murders.” This mobile exhibit appeared at different locations throughout the conference, reminding participants of the significance of the conference goals and themes of building research and action around gender violence and promoting women’s human rights.

Acha has put a call out to for more stories and tributes. To contribute to the exhibit, individuals or groups can create an action, ceremony or homage to a woman who has been murdered from 2001 through 2007 (433 domestic violence murders documented in Spain between these years).  Whatever is created is then represented on self-adhesive posters, send to Acha who compiles them and builds them into the overall exhibit.  The deadline for submissions is December 2008.

While the project initiated in Spain, Maria María Acha welcomes contributions from other parts of the world.  Check out the website at: http://www.ojoatomico.com/bellasdurmientes/home.html, to see some of the entries to this powerful exhibit, and to find out more about how to participate.