Lucrecia Paco and Gigliola Zacara denounced violence against women and advocated for combating femicide through art and social reflection.
It was 6 PM when the Fernando Leite Couto Foundation opened its doors on the last Wednesday of May to welcome Lucrecia Paco and Gigliola Zacara, the stars of the show "Voices for Life."
The multidisciplinary show celebrates the female voice as a tool for social change, in a performance that incorporates music, poetry, dance, and theater to speak of life, resistance, and hope.
It began with the intention of drawing the public's attention. To this end, testimonies from family members of women victims of femicide were presented. The shocking, and sometimes disturbing, accounts, told amidst tears and trembling voices, revealed the anguish of those who lost a loved one at the hands of someone they trusted, such as a husband or boyfriend.
Lucrecia Paco was the first to take the stage. She chanted a protest song, symbolizing the pain the piece intended to convey through art.
Her text spoke of a time that has passed, but whose marks are still felt today.
According to Gigliola Zacara, the performance results from the compilation of several texts. Thus, both showed the power that art possesses, both as an instrument of social criticism and of the construction of society.
“[…] They think that to dominate a woman, all you need is strength!” — a statement that echoed in the space as yet another appeal about how women continue to be objectified and mistreated in different social and family contexts.
“An empty woman accepts everything.” This recital draws attention to the importance of continuing to encourage women to rise up and empower themselves.
“Femicide is not an impulse” was another of the performance's striking phrases, showing not only the absence of justification for femicide, but also that this act can always be prevented.
For almost an hour, the audience listened, reflected on, and analyzed a current topic that continues to make headlines: femicide.
The performance lasted almost an hour and its main objective was to raise public awareness about the seriousness of violence against women and the need to combat femicide through art and social reflection.
(By Joana Mawai)
