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maltatoday | SUNDAY • 18 MAY 2025 2 ART Reframing violence through art: Dar Merħba Bik launches open call for artists Malta's f irst shelter for domestic abuse survivors hopes to help change the narrative around domestic and gender- based violence – and gender stereotypes sustaining violence – through a bold new visual arts project DAR Merħba Bik Foundation invites Malta-based artists, collectives, organisations and creatives working in any medi- um to apply for Where Silence Holds – a visual arts project curated by Elyse Tonna that seeks to reframe the narrative around gender-based and do- mestic violence, and the gen- der stereotypes that sustain it. Culminating in a collective, interdisciplinary exhibition in October, the project is part of the Together We Empow- er programme, funded by the Commission on Gender-Based Violence and Domestic Vio- lence and the Parliamentary Secretariat for Reforms and Equality. Where Silence Holds is a rare opportunity for Malta's artistic community to contribute to a national dialogue on one of so- ciety's most urgent and often hidden issues – while engaging with the island's first shelter for women and children survi- vors of domestic violence. Jeanette Gillard, Coordinator at Dar Merħba Bik Founda- tion and Project Manager for Where Silence Holds, sees the initiative as an extension of the Foundation's mission. "For over four decades, we've pro- vided care where voices were silenced. This project invites the wider community to listen, to reflect and to imagine new ways of standing with those affected by violence. Art can reach where words fall short." Selected artists will engage with the Foundation's broader context, addressing the cultur- al, social and political dimen- sions of violence that often go unseen and unheard. In par- allel, Dar Merħba Bik Foun- dation, in close collaboration with Sejjaħli b'Ismi, will exhibit its own artistic project involv- ing the residents themselves. In a moment where silence too often protects perpetrators instead of survivors, Where Silence Holds is less about narrating the past and more about making space for what takes shape after, namely the slow and often unseen work of mending, explains curator Elyse Tonna. "This is not a call for representation of trau- ma," she says. "Where Silence Holds offers artists the chance to explore and reflect upon the quieter, often unspoken, spaces after disruption and in the stillness before something begins. Artists are invited to respond with care, with atten- tiveness and with their own un- derstanding of what it means to inhabit this in-between." The call, which receives ap- plications in English or Maltese between 8 May and 31 May, is open to Malta-based art- ists aged 18 or over, as well as collectives, organisations and creatives, working in any dis- cipline. Selected participants will receive curatorial support throughout the development and production period of July to September and an artistic and production fee. The exhi- bition of the newly developed works will be held throughout October at The Mill, Birkirka- ra, where artists will also take part in public events scheduled through the month in collab- oration with Dar Merħba Bik Foundation and Elyse Tonna. To participate in Where Si- lence Holds, interested artists may apply only via online ap- plication form by 31 May at 23:59 CET. More information about the open call or the ap- plication process is available via email on wheresilence- holds@gmail.com. This project has been funded by the Com- mission on Gender-Based Vi- olence and Domestic Violence and the Parliamentary Secre- tary for Reforms and Equality through the Together We Em- power programme. The views and opinions expressed in this piece are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Commission on Gen- der-Based Violence and Do- mestic Violence. "Where Silence Holds is a rare opportunity for Malta's artistic community to contribute to a national dialogue on one of society's most urgent and often hidden issues." Left to right: Maria Giulia Pace, Frida Mangion, Jeannette Gillard, Elyse Tonna (Photo: Giola C)