“Ordinary Objects” interactive exhibition calling to fight against violence opened at Nazarbayev University

An interactive exhibition “Ordinary Things” has opened at Nazarbayev University, telling the real stories of Kazakhstanis affected by domestic violence. The opening ceremony was attended by the UN Resident Coordinator in Kazakhstan Michaela Friberg-Story, Assistant Representative of UNFPA in Kazakhstan Raimbek Sissemaliyev, Representative of the UN Women in Kazakhstan Maria Dotsenko, Canadian Ambassador to Kazakhstan Alan Hamson, and NU Vice Provost for Academic Affairs  Loretta O’Donnell.

The exhibition showcases real stories of Kazakhstani women – survivors of domestic violence. The exhibition features 16 seemingly ordinary items: a glass, a book, a shoe. But behind each of them is a real story of a person who faced violence, and in some cases, even became a victim of it.

The purpose of the exhibition is to draw attention to the problem of domestic violence, because according to statistics, 137 women in the world die every day at the hands of their family members, and every third woman has been subjected to physical and/or sexual violence at least once in her life.

The exhibits are presented in the atrium of the University.  For a deeper immersion into the exhibition, the stories of each display were also available in audio format. In order to listen to the stories of the survivors in Kazakh, Russian, and English, visitors pointed cameras of their smartphones at the QR-code of each display. 

The “Ordinary Objects” exhibition is the result of cooperation between the Embassy of Canada, the Office of the UN Resident Coordinator in Kazakhstan, the United Nations Population Fund in Kazakhstan (UNFPA), UN Women, and Nazarbayev University. It will last until the end of March.