Material Sensible (Sensitive Material)

A project that shows the transformative power of photography and raises awareness about a taboo topic such as childhood sexual abuse, through different actions:

 

 

Imagen de Esther Gonzalez Ruiz, participante de la tercera edición de Material sensible.

 

Participatory photography projects

 

One in five boys and girls suffers some type of sexual abuse before the age of 17. Faced with this reality, since 2017 the Education Area of ​​Photographic Social Vision has been developing the participatory project of photographic creation called Material sensible (Sensitive Material). People who have completed their therapeutic process at the Vicki Bernadet Foundation, an organization that offers comprehensive care, prevention, and awareness of child sexual abuse (ASI), use photography as a means of expression and creative potential to reconstruct their personal story.

For six months, we accompany the participants in their recovery so that they can tell their own stories. The sessions alternate the learning of technical issues with very sensitive psychological and emotional aspects of their own reality, because the severity is not marked only by the crime itself, but by how each person lived the experience.

 

Photographic exhibitions

 

  • 3rd EDITION: the participating people began the participatory process in 2020 and the resulting exhibition was held from April 13 to May 28, 2021 at La Casa Elizalde (Barcelona). More information about the third edition, here.
  • 2nd EDITION: It was held in 2019, including an exhibition in the Chiquita Room artistic space. More information about the second edition, here.
  • 1st EDITION: it was held in 2017 and ended with an exhibition at Projekteria [Art Gallery]. More information about the first edition, here.

 


Making off of all editions

 

Educational capsules

 

From these initial photography workshops, in addition, a series of awareness workshops were born in schools, a tool aimed at secondary and high school students, from 14 years of age. This is a new educational activity, which combines visual analysis with awareness raising, reflection and debate, based on the photographs created by the participants of previous editions of Sensitive Material, as well as their testimonials recorded on video.


Sample of video recorded testimonials

 

Documentary about Material Sensible

 

After several editions of the Sensitive Material workshop, it has now become a documentary with the same name that shows the potential of photography as a transforming tool, wanting to make the method and operation of this participatory photography project known to a wider public; disseminate the images and experiences of those who have participated in it; warn about the serious problem of ASI, which our society urgently needs to address; and above all, convey the transformative potential of an art such as photography.

This documentary, created and produced by the Photographic Foundation and directed and edited by Ana de Quadras, has sound post-production by Raúl Lucea and colorist Cristina Pérez. It contains photographs by Núria Prieto, which document the making of the third edition of the participatory photography project.

 


Preview of the documentary