Re-Signifying Public Spaces: The Streets as Sites of Resistance to Gender-Based Violence

"Re-Signifying Public Spaces: The Streets as Sites of Resistance to Gender-Based Violence," is a collaborative cross-cultural initiative between researchers, artists, educators, and students from Radboud University, the UNESCO Chair Centre for Arts & Learning at ArtEZ, the Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla in Mexico, and Studio Monk. Centered in Nijmegen and building on prior work like Paseo Falda, the project investigates a fundamental question: From an intersectional perspective, how can we reclaim public space for pleasure, leisure, and recreation in a way that allows us to move beyond survival mode and include underrepresented voices?

• Interdisciplinary & Co-Creative Methods: The team used embodied exercises, counter-mapping, letter writing, and photographic narrative inquiry to explore how urban design and the public gaze shape our feelings of safety and belonging.

• Public Art Interventions: Moving beyond passive transit, the project engaged the community through participatory public interventions—such as adding interactive elements to the Mariken van Nieumeghen statue and hosting the Talk and Chalk event along the river Waal, which featured a pop-up living room and chalk-based public prompts addressing visibility and surveillance.

• Collective Resistance: By turning public squares into spaces for dialogue, shared meals, and creative expression, the project demonstrated that joyful, collective occupation of urban spaces acts as a powerful counterforce to gender-based violence and redefines inclusive politics of belonging.