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In 2006, Tarana Burke started the #MeToo Movement to increase awareness about sexual harassment in the workplace. In 2017, the movement gained significant traction among the general public when news reports of sexual abuse by American film producer Harvey Weinstein flooded the press. Many more stories followed, uncovering the patterns of abuse and silencing women and girls had experienced while working for (or with) people in positions of great influence and power including: Dr. Larry Nassar, Bill Cosby, Charlie Rose, Matt Lauer, Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Private stories became public testimonies. Behavior that had gone unchecked and had silenced women for years was finally exposed.

In “The Target Shoots Back,” panelists will present art works that use visual and narrative art forms (including durational performance, film/animation) to highlight the courage of individuals who report assault and abuses of power despite overwhelming public scrutiny and skepticism. Focusing on the targets and victims of gaslighting and misogyny (rather than the perpetrators), the artists will re-examine and re-present the testimonies of Christine Blasey Ford, Anita Hill, and others, to provide new strategies for understanding and critiquing the media’s interpretation of these events.