During the 1994 genocide, hundreds of thousands of Rwandan women were subjected to massive sexual violence by members of the infamous Hutu militia groups, known as the Interhamwe. Among the most isolated survivors are women who have borne children as a result of those rapes. The number of children born from these atrocities is estimated around 20,000. Due to the stigma of rape and “having a child of the militia,” the women’s communities and few surviving relatives have largely shunned them. Intended Consequences: Rwandan Children Born of Rape brings together Jonathan Torgovnik’s remarkable portraits of these women and children, and their harrowing first-hand testimonies.

The exhibition on view at Aperture Gallery is comprised of thirty-one stunning individual portraits of these women with their children, accompanied by their testimonies—intensely personal accounts of what they have gone through, the daily challenges they continue to face, and their conflicted feelings about raising a child who is a reminder of horrors endured. The testimonies are presented in text panels and multimedia interviews projected in the center of the installation, produced by MediaStorm. The exhibition also features a video interview with Torgovnik.

Come see this powerful exhibition on view starting tomorrow, Friday, February 20, at Aperture Gallery.

Click here to view a special multimedia feature from Intended Consequences.

Aperture’s accompanying book, Intended Consequences will be published worldwide on April 7, 2009, coinciding with the fifteenth anniversary of the genocide and the opening of a satellite exhibition in the lobby of the United Nations.

Opening reception:
Thursday, March 5, 2009, 6:00–8:00 pm

Exhibition on view:
Friday, February 20–Thursday, May 7, 2009

Panel Discussion with the Artist: Wednesday, April 29, 6:30 p.m.

Aperture Gallery
547 West 27th Street, 4th floor
(between 10th and 11th Avenues)
New York, NY
(212) 505-5555

Subway: C, E to 23rd Street and 8th Avenue or 1 to 28th Street and 7th Avenue

FREE

This book and exhibition were done in collaboration with the Open Society Institute, Amnesty International, and Foundation Rwanda.