Sonia Boyce

*Yes, I Hear You*, 2022. Four-channel colour video installation with sound and wallpaper. 12 minutes 25 seconds. 'Radio Ballads', Serpentine Galleries, 2022. Photo: George Darrell

*Broken* Wallpaper, 2022. Dimensions variable

*Broken Authority*, 2022. Two digital prints. Landscape format: 84cm x 59.4cm. Portrait format: 59.4cm x 84cm

*Broken Perpetrator*, 2022. Two digital prints. Landscape format: 84cm x 59.4cm. Portrait format: 59.4cm x 84cm

*Broken Survivor*, 2022. Two digital prints. Landscape format: 84cm x 59.4cm. Portrait format: 59.4cm x 84cm

*Broken Social Care*, 2022. Two digital prints. Landscape format: 84cm x 59.4cm. Portrait format: 59.4cm x 84cm

Yes, I Hear You, (2022) was presented as part of ‘Radio Ballads’; a series of new film commissions exhibited at the Serpentine Galleries, (31 March – 29 May) and Barking Town Hall and Learning Centre, (2 – 17 April).

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Only by listening to the stories of those who have experienced domestic abuse can we achieve change in how those affected are heard and supported. Yes, I Hear You is underpinned by processes of sharing testimony and engaging in deep listening, asking how different people and systems witness complexity in interpersonal relationships. Presented as a four-channel video installation accompanied by eight digital prints and wallpaper, Yes, I Hear You is the culmination of two years of research involving interviews, workshops, reviews, and performative sessions with people who identify as survivors of domestic abuse; those who have perpetrated harm; and care workers, harm reduction facilitators, and therapists who support people directly affected by domestic abuse.

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For Yes, I Hear You, the artist invited groups of people, from social workers to academics, to listen to anonymised transcripts of people who had shared their experiences of coercive behaviour and abuse with the artist. She later invited the four film performers to interpret these transcripts as well, connecting with their own responses. Throughout the project, Boyce and her collaborators asked who we listen as and who are we listening to, and what happens to stories of harm through acts of collective voicing, recording, and embodiment.

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Film performers are Michelle Hamilton, Luke Christian, Jasmine Butterfly, and Amelia Grant.

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Project partners are LBBD Domestic Abuse Commission and Survivors Panel, LBBD Social Care Services, and Clean Break.