Today a special event for students of the University of Zürich took place: they received a private tour through the exhibition »The Mouth is for Speaking« by our partner Awareness in Art, after which they not only participated in the workshop but were also able to meet and talk to human rights defender Uschi Waser.

»The Mouth is for Speaking« is an exhibition about the right to have a voice and be heard. It showcases different works of art by international artists. The students were led through the exhibition by founder and curator Martina Huber. She explains the students about Luke Willis Thompson’s piece »(a) Breathing: collective noun«. This piece captures the often-unnoticed process of breathing, which is in reference to the murder of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States, where being suffocated and silenced is a common experience in the Black communities.

Another piece on display is the installation and (video) performance & sculpture »Apart from Us« by Seline Baumgartner. Before speaking up, most people facing injustice endure it in silence. Stigmatization, shame and other’s unwillingness to listen prevents survivors from standing up for themselves and others. This is also true for the children that were taken from their homes and became the victims of administrative detention in Switzerland. One of these survivors is Uschi Waser, who was especially invited to talk to the students.

Ms Waser was born a member of the marginalized Jenische community. Only a few month old, she was taken from her mother and family to be raised in foster homes and boarding schools. Why? Because she supposedly were to grow up in precarious conditions in a criminal milieu of homelessness and vagrancy. This was a semi-governamental project called »Kinder der Landstrasse«. She spent her childhood in over 25 different homes. She experienced rape and sexual abuse. But no (judicial) help.

Today Uschi Waser is brave enough to tell her story and come up for the rights of others. Understandably, the students - who talked to her in small groups to make it a personal experience - were moved by both her story and her bravery.

More information: https://www.naschet-jenische.ch/uschi_waser/