Student and staff artists raise awareness of gender-based violence with exhibition

December 17, 2025

NESCol students and staff participated in a powerful art exhibition to mark the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence.

The College community was invited to create original works inspired by this year’s theme of ‘UNiTE to End Digital Violence Against All Women and Girls’.

Seventeen pieces of art were submitted and displayed both in a physical exhibition at City Campus and a digital exhibition online. The artists used a range of disciplines in their work, including painting, photography, graphic design, and writing.

Three of the artworks were selected as winners by a panel of judges and announced at the exhibition launch on 25 November. The winners were:

• Best Storytelling – Silence by Anna Loudon
• Most Thought Provoking – Love and Loss by Kelly Michie
• Judges’ Choice – Wrong by Anonymous

Kirsty Pettitt, Student Engagement and Wellbeing Manager, NESCol, said:

“A huge thank you to everyone who contributed to and engaged with the exhibition.

“Gender-based violence affects one in three women during their lifetime, with a growing number of incidents now taking place online. This year’s 16 Days of Activism theme highlights how vital digital safety is to achieving gender equality.

“The judging panel was blown away by the creativity and courage demonstrated in the pieces submitted by the College community, and by the impactful themes the artists chose to explore.”

The winner of the Most Thought Provoking piece was NESCol College Administrator, Kelly Michie. A mother of three daughters, she decided to challenge herself and get involved with the exhibition. Her mixed medium piece involved painstakingly cutting out individual letters from magazines and newspapers.

Kelly said, “I was beyond shocked to win a prize amongst these extremely talented people who created immensely powerful pieces of art!

“I mainly do crafts but I’ve been wanting to try mixed medium art for a while. The theme struck a chord with me; I’ve been fortunate enough not to have experienced gender-based violence to the extent that others have, but while working on my piece, it definitely took me back to previous relationships and behaviours I experienced.

“Even though the reason behind this exhibition is traumatic and harrowing to say the least, I really enjoyed creating this piece. It pushed me out of my comfort zone to try something new. My girls kept telling me to stop, that my piece was good and that I could ruin it by doing more, but I kept going – and they couldn’t believe the final result.

“I want to say thank you to NESCol for putting on such a great exhibition, which allowed me to create a piece with such purpose.”

NESCol’s 16 Days of Art Exhibition is available to view online. Please note, this exhibition includes artwork and materials that address gender-based violence, digital abuse, and online harassment, which may be distressing or triggering for some viewers.

The 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence is an annual global campaign that runs from 25 November (the International Day of the Elimination of Violence against Women) to 10 December (Human Rights Day). For more information and to get involved with the campaign, please visit the UN Women website.