Held in conjunction with Christie’s, the Sara Charlton Charitable Foundation (SCCF) is hosting In The Name of Honour, a ground-breaking Contemporary art exhibition at One Mayfair exploring violence against women, gender and the female body. Taking place from 19–22 September, the exhibition will open with a special Gala Event on 18 September at One Mayfair.
With one in four women in the UK suffering abuse in their lifetime, and with some 3000 reported cases of honour-based violence each year, there is an urgent need for action. The 18-22 September 2013 will mark an important week as the SCCF launches their gala evening and sale of artworks to raise funds for victims of abuse. The artworks will be on display and open to the public until 22 September, during which time educational days, workshops and artist talks will also take place. Top Criminal Behavioural Analyst Laura Richards is advising the SCCF on its educational programme.
The exhibition will feature 45 works for sale by both emerging and internationally acclaimed contributors of different ages from around the globe. This includes ground-breaking feminist artists from the 1970s and 80s, such as Jenny Holzer and Alexis Hunter as well as a younger generation of artists addressing gender issues, such as Vanessa Beecroft, Mona Hatoum and Sarah Lucas. There are also representatives of the new wave of young and emerging feminist artists, including Faiza Butt, Amalia Caputo, Shadi Ghadirian, Manal Al-Dowayan and Sarah Maple. A number of works have been created especially for In the Name of Honour. The majority of works will be available to purchase on the launch night, with 10 going under the hammer for the gala’s live auction. The rest will be available subsequently throughout the week, with five to be auctioned via the Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Art sale at South Kensington on 24 September.
In the Name of Honour also features a special selection of celebrity drawings created specifically for the event by names such as Patrick Stewart, Helen Mirren, Rosario Dawson, Tom Hardy, Maggie Smith and Ben Elton, to name a few. These include an edition by Prime Minister David Cameron. The celebrity drawings will be sold via silent auctions at the gala dinner.
“Domestic Violence is one of the greatest overlooked problems in our society,” says SCCF Director Antonia Packard. “To date, domestic violence has been largely viewed as a private matter and a gender issue. We have to get to the place where society sees domestic violence as a violation of human rights over everything else. With the public’s support, I hope that we can get to a place where we are not scared to speak out against abusers, and to see abusive behaviour as a crime.”
Says curator Jenny Christensson: “The In the Name of Honour exhibition and sale of contemporary art has from the outset had two aims: to raise awareness of violence against women around the world and to raise money for the work that the Sara Charlton Charitable Foundation does in the UK to support victims of domestic violence. With this in mind we invited artists whose work addresses either gender issues or violence against women to donate artworks to our project. We have been overwhelmed by the response, which has in all cases been immediate, generous and engaged. Whether female or male, all of the participating artists are passionate about these issues and many of them have dedicated their lives, through their art, to communicating them.
The works in the exhibition address a range of gender-based issues, including the representation of the female body in the media, the role of religion (Christianity, Judaism and Islam) in the oppression of women, domestic and honour-based violence, trafficking, Female Genital Mutilation, the continued use in some cultures of capital punishment as a sentence for women accused of so-called “sexual crimes” and the vulnerability of women to sexual assault in conflict situations. Many of the works challenge us and encourage us to confront matters we would prefer to avoid, but it is exactly this that the very best art sets out to do.”
In The Name of Honour Programme:
All events held at One Mayfair.
Wednesday 18 September
Gala evening and auction, conducted by Tom Best, Christie’s
Thursday 19 September
Educational Day
Lunch Talk (12:30-14:00)
Evening Lecture (18:30-20:00)
Friday 20 September
Artist Talk with Faiza Butt and fellow artists
Curator led tour (18:00-20:00 TBC)
Saturday 21 September
Artist Workshop
