With These Hands

With These Hands is a virtual reality installation that lets users put themselves in the place of people who have experiences around sexual violence. Seated at a table, the user listens to these people’s stories while they embody their hands and use them to control the experience.

In this installation, which is premiering at DocLab, Tessa Ratuszynska brings attention to a complex subject in nuanced ways, including looking at methods of restorative justice and explores the role of listening in the recovery of both survivors and those responsible for sexual harm.

The experience includes two original pieces of writing from survivors, who perform their own work, and a docu-fictional piece of writing from poet 1990s Chris, based on interviews with men close to someone faced with an accusation of sexual harm.