Invitation to a solidarity art project: "Forbidden Words"

Dear colleagues and students,

We invite you to participate in a solidarity project in response to the alarming situation at universities in the USA, where academic freedom and free speech are under increasing pressure from the Trump administration. Several federal institutions have introduced bans on specific words in research proposals, educational guidelines, and public communication. This directly impacts work related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).

As a community of artists, students, and educators, we want to stand in solidarity with students and staff at American universities, who now face the risk of losing funding, being surveilled, losing their study place or job – or in the worst case – arrested and disappeared, simply for using these words. This development is terrifying.

While we are not under the same threat ourselves, we want to draw attention to the banned words – by making them visible through art. By creating an image for each word, we ensure they are seen, spoken, and remembered.

We invite you to create one image based on one of the banned words.
If you would like to participate, please email tirischr@khio.no to receive a word (we are assigning words to ensure the entire list is covered).

Our aim is to give these words visibility, voice, and presence through artistic expression – as a joint act of resistance- the words will be combined in a video to be shared in social media.

Practical details:

• Format: Image in 4:5 ratio (1080 x 1350 pixels), 85 pixels per inch, JPG or PNG
• Content: A visual work with an assigned word (you will receive your word by emailing tirischr@khio.no)
• Submission: Preferably via upload link: Upload here. Alternatively, send by email to Mina Wang-Andersen: minawang@khio.no
• Deadline: Monday, May 19 at 12:00 PM

Presentation:

KHiO’s communications department will create a digital slideshow to be shared on social media, and the images will also be shown on the screen in the reception area.

If you're short on time, you're welcome to use an existing work and add the assigned word to it – we know this is a busy exam period. Just make sure the word is clearly visible and easy to read!
If you use color, we recommend checking contrast using this tool:
https://webaim.org/resources/contrastchecker/

Please see the attached example image and full list of banned words for info, but feel free to make your work as you wish to make it.

We hope you would like to join us!

This is a low-threshold initiative – a gesture of solidarity with our colleagues and fellow students in the USA. Hopefully, it will inspire more and better actions of support from more people.

Warm regards,
Iris and Tiril

Printmaking/Art and Craft