When Objects Refuse Silence: Violence, Resistance and the Re-shaping of Knowledge

Abstract

This paper reflects on how Julia Jude’s (2017) African Indigenous Oral Traditional Endarkened Feminist Practice and David Newman’s (2021) Dictionary of Obscure Experiences influenced my work with women who have experienced partner violence and with institutional representatives in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Through a series of workshops, I explored how objects can interrupt dominant ways of knowing and invite witnessing rather than interpretation. Objects were first presented to institutional representatives without accompanying stories, creating space for not knowing and relational engagement. This process led to the creation of Preplitanje nasilja (Cerkic, 2026), a practice-based document. The paper reflects on how this work reshaped my understanding of knowledge, language, listening, and decolonising systemic practice.