Journey is an art installation depicting the life of a trafficked woman and her journey out of the life of a prostitute.  If you would like more information paste this to your webrowser: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music/2009/11/10/2009-11-10_art_art_exhibit.html

The installation is set inside 7 shipping crates.  I find this appropriate because the victims of this crime were treated as goods to be shipped from which to profit. Below is my experience as I walked through this installation- I am very excited about people seeing this exhibit and hope it continues to tour and spread awareness to as many places as possible.  I feel this is a display of true art, it has the purpose to educate and make a difference by using the talents that were gifted to these artists.  I hope you didn’t miss it.

As you walk into the first crate, there are series of holes in the walls depicting family life.  These family images are made out of fragile, eerie looking stick people-seemed to be foreshadowing dysfunction and a shattering of the family image that would follow in the next 6 crates. She writes text about how she used to like school on the walls, reminding me that her story began just as mine had begun- a little girl who loved school.

The second crate was an audio experience. People were lined along the walls with their eyes closed.  The music was pounding and as I closed my eyes it completely shook my insides and I felt helpless, sad, scared, angry- I found it difficult to sit still and let it all seep in. The music changes drastically to more happy music with children’s voices and more soothing sounds, although there was  an upsetting distortion weaving in and out of the notes , not letting you forget the darkness of the previous music.

The third crate brings it home again.  There are several holes to look in which to look- all depicting the bodies of prostitutes and a mirror in place of the face, where you can see yourself.  Reiterating that this could be anyone, even you.  A woman had asked her if she wanted to go to London to earn some money- that is how this all started.  I look at my own life- I come from a family with very little money and I chose to be an artist so I continue to live life with very little money.  This causes stress and sometimes embarrassment.  I try to envision a woman coming to me, promising to take me away from all that and to explore a country where I have never been… I know it would be tempting for me and I believe her situation was a little more severe than my own.  This could just as easily have been my story or the story of someone I love.

Next, was the ‘work’ room.  This is by far the most disturbing of the entire exhibit.  The first thing you notice upon entering is the smell.  This horrible smell of sex, body fluids and filth is almost so overwhelming that I was worried about vomiting.  There was a bowl of condoms on the night table as if it was some thoughtful party favor- look, you can even get one in your favorite color! The wall paper is a mixture of hotel decor and laughing evil looking mouths, the sink was running and filled with filth and blood spatters.  The bed was stained and pulsating as you heard men’s groaning and yelling through the speakers.  Everywhere you turned there were used condoms lying about.  Across one mirror there were 40 slash marks of how many customers that night and ‘Help Me’ written across another.  It was easy to imagine what went on in that room and to realize that things you couldn't even imagine happened there as well. The thought of her being trapped in that room night after night not knowing if she had aids or if she would see the next week. It makes our work complaints just sound ridiculous.

The fifth crate was a collection of photography.  The artist paid for services in a brothel for several nights and then gave the camera to the prostitutes and told them he would do whatever they wanted.  It was interesting to see- some photos he looked happy and normal-maybe the way they wished their customers looked... and other pictures it was clear the woman was trying to shame him, maybe to share a little of the shame she feels for hours on end.  Some you could see the photographer was having fun and maybe was relieved to be doing something other than ‘work.’

The next crate was a sculpture.  It was a black hole you could enter.  It gave me a sense of loss, loneliness and isolation.  I felt sad and hoped that this feeling was over for this woman, but I know it’s a process… and she will slip in and out of this black hole- I just hope people will continue to love on her and pull her out as many times as she needs.

The last crate had reports covering the wall basically belittling her statements and saying that it was not reasonable for someone to expect protection from this kind of activity… That made me angry, I didn’t stay long in that crate. 

As a dancer and someone who is deeply connected to their body- what happened to this woman seems unfathomable. If the body is the Temple of God… I can’t  imagine my temple be degraded and defaced and then my soul being kicked out the front door – the doors slammed and the connection completely broken. I can’t imagine much worse.

Going through each crate the guides always instructed us to take our time.  That was the hardest part of the whole experience because you know if you actually take the time and fully experience each crate, it will be pretty impossible to forget and even harder to not do something to stop this horrible trend of human trafficking.  The smell of the crate has stuck with me since Saturday, but I am thankful for that.  I am thankful that I can’t look past this horrible crime, and I am even more thankful that this kind of activity can be overcome- if we are willing.  I think the most disturbing thing about this story is this is only one story.  There are so many more out there with the same story, if not worse stories.  

It’s hard to be willing to see past our own comfortable lives and learn about acts of cruelty.  It shakes us up, it makes us feel guilty, it moves us to act- and it should.  These woman are children of God and deserve to be saved from the lives that have been forced upon them. We should probably be asking ourselves –what can we do?  We should probably be looking beyond our apartments and seek out injustice.  We should probably make issues of human cruelty a priority.

I was wondering what Christmas would look like if we showed love to our friends and family in a physical and emotional way and put our money where it really counts. What if we spent the same amount on social justice as we did on our presents and decorations?  Last year it was estimated that Americans spent $28.5 billion on Thanksgiving and $460 billion on Christmas… REALLY? Billions! There are plenty of organizations that need money to continue their work in aftercare, prevention, housing, etc. in all areas of social justice.   Maybe we should consider putting  $488.5 billion into saving humans… just sayin.

I have listed some organizations below that could use your support in a variety of ways to combat human trafficking  .  You don’t need money to volunteer your services or to research and spread awareness- see where you might fit in.

www.love146.org

www.restorenyc.org

www.gems-girls.org

www.ijm.org