VOL 22 = YOUR SILENCE WILL NOT PROTECT YOU
a vitrine exhibition created by Johanna Trudzinski and Lieven Segers in collaboration with artist Stef Van Looveren.
AAIMACHINE’s vitrine is on display day and night, seven days a week, thus becoming a public space where words, statements and life experiences from across the ages are given a voice, in order to break public silence.

The exhibition is a selection of quotes gathered by Stef Van Looveren, Lieven Segers and Johanna Trudzinski. These text excerpts explore genuine personal freedom, self-determination and acceptance, values that should form a foundation both within and outside the queer community.
Short, clear statements such as ‘queer is louder than fear’ sit alongside more complex reflections on individuality, desire and power, including Camille Paglia’s assertion that “we need more dissent and less dogma.” Together, these voices sketch out a landscape of resistance and imagination that cannot be tamed or domesticated.

The exhibition’s title is Audre Lorde’s statement that ‘your silence will not protect you’. In this context this phrase serves as both a warning and an invitation: silence is not a neutral space, nor does it keep us safe. Speaking, reading, quoting and taking a public stand become necessary conditions for collective liberation and queer presence. By bringing these phrases out of the private sphere of reading and conversation and into the public space of the shop window, the exhibition opens them up to chance encounters with passers-by, moments of recognition, friction, curiosity or empowerment.

VOL 22; YOUR SILENCE WILL NOT PROTECT YOU is part of TOGETHER, a citywide initiative supporting the LGBTQIA+ community. TOGETHER is initiated by Carla Arocha and developed in collaboration with Stéphane Schraenen, Vanessa Van Obberghen, Jesse Siegel, Tom Sanders, Philip Huyghe, Lieven Segers, Luc Tuymans and Clara Lissens. Through TOGETHER, a network of Antwerp art spaces unites in the context of Antwerp Pride, creating shared visibility for queer voices, narratives and solidarities across the city.

YOUR SILENCE WILL NOT PROTECT YOU
every day of August
visible day and night

Artists: Stef Van Looveren, Lieven Segers, Johanna Trudzinski