Everything we know is based on the lived experiences of our community of Action Sheroes, Heroes , Theyroes.

Blank Noise has been one of the first initiatives globally to bring attention to street harassment. It started in response to everyday experiences of street harassment that had no vocabulary except ‘eve teasing’. The word ‘teasing’, that which ‘boys do for fun’, and is ‘harmless’, erased and denied the magnitude of the issue.

Between 2003 - 2012, Blank Noise worked with its growing community of ‘Action Sheroes’, ‘Action Heroes’ and ‘Action Theyroes’ to bring attention to street harassment ; to define it , address it and confront it. Blank Noise Action Sheroes built testimonials of street harassment. The testimonial archives of street harassment and sexual violence at Blank Noise inspired live actions and interventions. The public interventions at Blank Noise are informed by the testimonial archive. The public interventions are designed to shift the current climate of fear, warnings and blame.

Blank Noise is a community of ‘Action Sheroes, Theyroes and Heroes’, individuals and citizens united to eradicate gender based and sexual violence. Initiated in 2003, as a response to street harassment as a final graduation project at the Srishti Insitute of Art Design and Technology, Blank Noise has grown into a multi city/ country collective led by its Action Sheroes, Theyroes and Heroes.

Blank Noise ignites the idea that every person has the ability and potential to eradicate sexual and gender based violence. Action Sheroes/ Theyroes/ Heroes take agency to tackle the issue. 

Blank Noise and its community of Action Sheroes, have been instrumental in building public discourse on sexual violence, through a range of interventions, designed across media (video, audio, live action, performance, posters). Blank Noise interventions are designed to shift the fear based relationship women have been taught to have with their cities. The collective creates a safe space for survivors to be heard. All of Blank Noise is built on the lived experiences and insights of its community.

Who is the community ?

2016 - 2021 Blank Noise Internship and Volunteer Applicants Identified as Male, Female, Gender-queer, Transgender, and Non-Binary

Blank Noise Time Line / To be updated

2003 : Initiated as a graduation project at Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology in response to the silence surrounding street harassment.

2004 : Initiated the #INeverAskForIt mission bringing attention to victim blame by asking women to bring clothes they wore when they experienced harassment.

2005 : Initiated conversation on the blogger.com , http://blog.blanknoise.org

2006 : Blank Noise Blogathon intiated by Action Shero Smita Jain and team including Hemangini Gupta, Raghu Karnad, Harneet Bhatia

2007

Enablers

Blank Noise has been enabled through a wide range of ongoing partnerships, alliances, friendships. Our primary partner is our community of 'Action Sheroes , Heroes and Theyroes' , citizens and persons, who donate their time, skills, labour to shift public collective conscience , towards tackling sexual and gender based violence. The community has also been contributing small funds via fundraiser calls. We are grateful for your support.

Srishti Institute of Art Design and Technology awarded founder, Jasmeen Patheja an Artist in Residence position in 2013, enabling Blank Noise to be supported and hosted. Blank Noise started as a graduation project, at Srishti in 2003 and continues to be a enabling environment for the work we do. 

Thank you Visible Project ! Blank Noise founder Jasmeen Patheja received the Visible Award for socially engaged art practice in November 2019.

The Wellbeing Project and its Inner development Programme.

Thank you TED, for the fellowship and its community. Thank you, Ruth Ann Harnisch , The Harnisch Foundation, for the 2017, Awesome Without Borders. Thank you Ashoka Innovators For The Public, the organisation and its fellows for the community and resource it offers.

To enable our efforts, and to step in to end violence against women and girls, please reach us at actionshero@blanknoise.org . To donate visit here