Connecting Silent Voices: When Art Gives Voice to the Untold

Connecting Silent Voices is an international creative collaboration between BILOURA Intercultural Arts Collective (Italy), DanceBeyondBorders (Malta), WomanUp (Bulgaria), and Artpolis (Kosovo). The project focuses on one of the most invisible, painful, and socially stigmatized issues: the marginalization and exploitation of women in the sex industry.

Why is this project important?

Sexual exploitation remains shrouded in silence—institutionally, socially, and personally. Women who experience it are often marginalized, rendered invisible, and denied access to support, with their stories hidden behind stigma, trauma, and fear.

Connecting Silent Voices addresses this urgent need through art, community, and exchange. The project places women at the center of the conversation—as active participants, not merely subjects of study.

What does the initiative include?

• Tours of the dance performance Silent Voices

• Workshops and creative labs

• Public discussions and debates

• Fundraising and advocacy events

These activities take place in each of the partner countries, with a strong focus on community, solidarity, and social change. Learn more about the project here.

Silent Voices: six years of art, research, and testimony

The performance Silent Voices is the culmination of six years of international research dedicated to the experiences of women who have survived sexual exploitation.

It combines dance, visual art, and sound compositions to explore the representation of the female body as an object of trade, pleasure, and pain. The dramaturgy creates an intimate space where the personal and the political intersect, turning the stage into a portal for previously unheard stories. Watch the trailer for the performance here.

Connecting Silent Voices is realized with the support of Perform Europe, a European initiative for touring and mobility in the performing arts funded by the EU’s Creative Europe program. Perform Europe promotes sustainability, inclusion, and equal access by supporting meaningful and socially engaged international projects.