„Red shoes“ – the presence of the absent
Today, on the international day against patriarchal violence, we would like to commemorate all FLINTA* victims of patriarchal violence. With the action „Red Shoes“ we want to make the extent of violence against FLINTA* people visible.
Shoes as a symbol of the presence of the absent
Shoes belong to the trans-temporal symbols that stand for something personal, something private, something that distinguishes and characterizes us. They are one of the material things that remain and remind of people. In this context, shoes represent a person’s life story and are often witnesses of suffering, oppression, persecution and death.
A lonely shoe on the roadside, in the forest or in the park often remains the only trace that points to a crime. To people who have disappeared without a trace. They represent the presence of the absent.
Each pair of shoes represents a murdered FLINTA* person. They are meant to commemorate all murdered FLINTA* people who have fallen victim to patriarchal social structures.
This action is a continuation of the action „Zapatos Rojos“ (Red Shoes) initiated by Mexican artist Elina Chauvet in Ciudad Juarez in 2009. Chauvet placed several pairs of red women’s shoes in central locations to draw attention to the number of women and girls disappearing without a trace in the city. Hundreds of women and girls disappear in Mexico every year. Many of them are murdered. However, most cases remain unsolved or are not prosecuted due to disinterest and inaction on the part of the authorities, as well as fear of repression and violence from the authorities and the military.
But violence against FLINTA* persons knows no borders, nationalities, religions or social classes and is omnipresent. Femicides also happen here in Germany, where this year alone, according to police statistics, 116 FLINTA* persons were violently murdered. For this reason, we take today’s international day against patriarchal violence as an occasion for the action and want to remember together with you and draw attention to the FLINTA* people who can no longer stand and fight with us because of structural oppression, humiliation and violence.