海角大神

The folk saying 鈥渁 hen cannot speak in front of a rooster" expresses a cultural bias that silences women鈥檚 voices in Burundi. An exhibition called 鈥淲omen Hold Up Half the Sky鈥� at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles until May 20 profiles a 36-year-old mother of six, Goretti Nyabenda, who was powerless in her family, saying, 鈥淚 had no voice.鈥� Defying her husband, determined to escape his beatings, Goretti joined a solidarity group sponsored by the aid organization CARE. After she received a $2 loan, she built a thriving banana-beer business.

鈥淣ow I know I have good ideas,鈥� Goretti (who has become a community leader) crows, 鈥渁nd I tell people what I think.鈥�

The title of the exhibition comes from a Chinese proverb "Women hold up half the sky." The exhibit is based on the bestselling book by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, "Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide." Both book and exhibition focus on negative realities (trafficking, gender-based violence, and maternal mortality) and how empowering women through education and bringing them into the labor force provides positive gains.

It鈥檚 an exhibition with a mission. 鈥淚t was a challenge,鈥� according to consulting curator Karina White, 鈥渢o take these really overwhelming and devastating issues and think about how to present them to inspire people to action.鈥�

Skirball Museum director Robert Kirschner calls the show 鈥渘ot really an art exhibition. It鈥檚 not a collection of artifacts. It鈥檚 about ideas. It鈥檚 really about social conscience and focusing on certain issues and engaging a broad community.鈥�

Turning a book dense with horrifying statistics (like the statement that more girls are killed in 鈥渞outine 鈥榞endercide鈥� in any one decade than people were slaughtered in all the genocides of the 20th century鈥�) into a visual experience was a daunting task. 鈥淗ow to make an exhibition without making it exhibitionistic?鈥� Mr. Kirschner poses the dilemma.

The Skirball, dedicated to promoting a pluralistic society in which all are accorded dignity, is not a human rights organization. For the exhibition, the Jewish cultural center partnered with advocacy groups and nongovernmental organizations with expertise in the area.

The advisory committee stressed the danger of appearing paternalistic, even if well-intentioned, if the show featured social injustice in less privileged nations without highlighting local women鈥檚 leadership in setting an example of courage. More than statistics of atrocities, the show spotlights individuals who transform lives through activism.

鈥淢y primary goal was to inspire visitors to be moved and to take action,鈥� Ms. White says. She balances emotional impact 鈥� like a wall of silhouetted women waiting to tell their stories of mass rape in the Congo 鈥� with images and text showing change is occurring. The West African group Tostan, for example, has educated women to end the centuries-old tradition of female genital cutting in 5,000 villages in Senegal.

White also commissioned new artworks to illustrate the themes, like sound recordings by artist Ben Rubin of local women trafficked and held in domestic slavery or forced into prostitution. (An estimated 10,000 women are held in Los Angeles underground brothels, according to immigration agents, and thousands are forced into labor without pay or hope of escape.) Survivors tell their stories, like a 33-year-old Kenyan woman who finally escaped to a shelter, saying in a soft, halting voice: 鈥淎ll we have to do is be strong.鈥�

A lobby installation features the well-known Los Angeles artist Kim Abeles鈥檚 鈥淧earls of Wisdom: End the Violence.鈥� During a two-year community-engagement collaboration, Ms. Abeles worked with domestic-violence survivors in shelters, producing 800 pearlescent sculptures, a small sample of which are shown.

The project serves as a metaphor for the exhibition, since abused women turned their trauma into objects of beauty and hope. Each began with a symbol of abuse, encircled by yarn, strips of bandages, plaster, and paint. 鈥淚 realize the power and strength women have, but you also can鈥檛 ignore the challenges worldwide,鈥� Abeles says. Calling those who escape domestic violence 鈥渃hampions,鈥� she adds, 鈥淚鈥檓 not hot on the idea of thinking of women as just victims.鈥� Each woman offers advice, ranging from the practical: 鈥淎lways keep spare keys,鈥� to the urgent, 鈥淚f he wants you to be perfect, run ... run now!鈥�

鈥淚t was important to pair with domestic violence here in our own community,鈥� White notes, and to give voice and visibility to local struggles.

The design of the exhibition catalyzes visitors to express reactions. A cloudlike 鈥淲ish Canopy,鈥� designed by the Los Angeles architecture firm Layer, overarches the exhibit floor. Composed of interlocking ovoid spaces, the canopy is gradually filling with viewers鈥� wishes for other women written on pink, lavender, and blue paper.

鈥淭he overhead canopy,鈥� Kirschner says, 鈥渉as turned out to be an effective, dramatic way to symbolize the power of collective action.鈥� Some of the scrawled wishes are poignant, like 鈥淲hen I see violence, I will tell someone. I will not look the other way again鈥� or 鈥淚 wish you could see you are not alone.鈥�

The exhibit鈥檚 most atypical aspect is the chance to take direct action to advance human rights. One kiosk offers a choice of recipients to receive a microloan, reinforcing one of the main messages: Economic empowerment of women improves lives. 聽

An example is a case study of Saima Muhammed, a woman chronically hungry and assaulted by her husband before she turned a $65 loan into a prosperous embroidery business. Saima now employs 30 families in her village near Lahore, Pakistan, proving capitalism more efficacious than charity. She plans to send her three daughters to college. One daughter, Javaria, is a straight-A student, and hers is the smiling face on the exhibit鈥檚 poster.

Visitors can also sign petitions and send postcards to Congress urging legislative action. 鈥淲e debated, as a cultural institution, whether we should get into that realm and decided, this is how things change in a democratic society,鈥� Kirschner says. 鈥淓very human being has the right to be treated with respect and dignity and should be free of violence and have the opportunity for fundamental health care and education. If those things are partisan, then we鈥檙e partisan.鈥�

In a telephone interview, Mr. Kristof said it was 鈥渆xhilarating to see some of these extraordinary women whom I so admire getting a spotlight on them and their work.鈥� Asked why ensuring basic human rights for women is not a global policy priority, he answered, 鈥淧robably because it鈥檚 just the way things have always been, so it鈥檚 not really news. There鈥檚 no one day on which women are particularly abused more than others. It鈥檚 just the backdrop of humanity.鈥�

After researching these issues for 20 years (first with his wife, Sheryl WuDunn, as New York Times鈥� China correspondents and now as a Times columnist), Kristof sees enormous progress. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not just humanitarians who are pushing to get girls in school. It鈥檚 also American generals in Afghanistan. That鈥檚 very powerful, when everybody realizes the way to bring about change in a country is often to educate girls and bring them into the formal labor force.鈥�

The message is that school 鈥� not military 鈥� uniforms, and books 鈥� not bullets 鈥� are the way to go. For peace and stability in the developing world, microloans should replace maxi-bombs. The movement is gaining traction 鈥渘ot just because of our book. We were pushing on an open door,鈥� Kristof says. 鈥淭here鈥檚 an increasing realization that if you want to change the world, investing in women and empowering women offer tremendous leverage to accomplish that,鈥� he adds.

More than just showing pretty pictures, the Skirball Museum鈥檚 goal is to change the world. As White says, 鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to get much more important than this.鈥�

To enhance its outreach, plans are in the works for the exhibition to travel nationally and internationally. In addition, a two-part prime-time special will air on PBS in early October. 鈥淭he aim is to reach people,鈥� Kristof affirms. 鈥淲hat we want to do is not just inform people but to really make a difference.鈥� He adds, 鈥淭here are no silver bullets,鈥� but educating and empowering women are 鈥渁bout as close as one can get. It really has an impact.鈥�