The work was exhibited part of the group exhibition “A Small Note” curated by Chinar Shah. Other artists included: Joliane Dufresne and Rushabh Vishawakarma. The video was created while I was an-artist-in residence at MAWA (Mentoring Artists for Women´s Art) Canada and the sculptures were made specifically for the exhibition in Bangalore. The works relate to each other and took into consideration the setting of the exhibition which was staged in a lived-in apartment. The departure point for the work was the apartment setting and the Gallery name “Home Sweet Home” probing into the home as a not so safe place for women victims of domestic violence. The work was placed as to blend into the apartment and other objects typically found in homes. The video was shown looped on the TV, the sculptures were “Valentines day snow globe” with floating glittering red hearts, a cookie jar, “festive” flags and wine bottle labels. On closer inspection one can see that the image on all of this is a woman signaling HELP in semaphore flag language. The work probes into the small almost unnoticeable signs of domestic violence, traces left in- or unintentionally, cries for help in a perfect sweet home. The video is the result of my artistic research during my Artist-in-residency at MAWA in Winnipeg Canada and started when I read in the local news about the finding of the body of a missing Keewatin woman who had been murdered, just outside town. Discussions with artists at MAWA, about the case and the prevalence of murdered aboriginal women in Canada and the lack of media coverage, was the starting point for my research that became a short video. A 2014 report said the Royal Canadian Mountain Police had identified nearly 1,200 missing or murdered indigenous women and girls in Canada. Indigenous women and girls make up only 3% of the female population in Canada, yet they represent 10% of all female homicides. Despite this over representation, the media chose to put disproportionately large focus on upper-middle-class white women, who disappear or are murdered. The phenomenon has roots in the Greek mythology and European Folktales theme “Damsel in distress” and is referred to as: Missing White Woman Syndrome, Its coinage is attributed to Gwen Ifill of PBS. But as Eugine Robinson points out while being white and attractive are nonnegotiable, a damsel should preferable have a “petit body frame and be middle class or higher, exception to class can be made in the case of wartime. She must also be passive, weak, fragile and powerless in order to successfully gain power by catering to white men. While wanting to draw attention to this discrepancy, I was extremely aware of the problematics associated with myself being a white woman while speaking about the experiences of non-white and less privileged women. In the end I did decide to make the film as a form of rejecting and naming the privilege I have been given as well as exposing the prerequisites white men demand for the privilege to fully take effect. Silently, not wishing to take the voice or speak for anyone, I am using my own white body to in semaphore flag language signal H.E.L.P. The film mixes filmed footage with informative text, the names of the missing and murdered women and girls from the RCMP list and was filmed outside of Winnipeg, Canada on the site where the remains of the missing 21-year-old Keewatin woman's body was found. She had been missing for almost a year. http://people.stu.ca/~mccormic/3263MEDIA/Missing%20White%20Woman%20Syndrome.pdf http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/en/missing-and-murdered-aboriginal-women-national-operational-overview https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/mmiwg-inquiry-deliver-final-report-justice-reforms-1.5158223 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missing_white_woman_syndrome https://www.washingtonpost.com/gdpr-consent/?next_url=https%3a%2f%2fwww.washingtonpost.com%2fwp-dyn%2fcontent%2farticle%2f2005%2f06%2f09%2fAR2005060901729.html