A pop-up art exhibition titled “Can You Keep A Secret?” appeared at a prominent spot in a well-frequented mall one day, displaying a series of ceramic busts of smiling ladies. Each of them with a story to tell. We invited visitors to peer into their heads or listen to their voices through headphones, revealing the reality behind the facade.

Though their real faces remained anonymous, we recorded the voices of the actual abused women wherever possible. It was the first time they were able to speak ‘publicly’ about their plights.

Ceramic: a challenging but perfect material

The sculpting material was chosen for its particular properties. Ceramic looks strong but is fragile, mirroring the state of many abused women: strong and smiling on the surface, but secretly threatened and vulnerable.

How, when and where

This low-budget campaign began small, with 12 hand-sculpted busts on display for a month. You can listen to each woman’s story via headphones or peer into her head to see her dark secret.

These ceramic ladies made their first appearance at Publika: a mall known for arts and cultural events. However, they were not placed in one of the mall’s designated galleries but out in the open – fitting, as we wanted to expose the truth of domestic violence and bring it out of enclosed spaces into the light.

The promise of an intriguing story and hearing someone’s secrets was an attractive lure, and passers-by were drawn in without much effort. The level of engagement and emotional impact was deeper than if we had used more in-your-face advertising methods, with many of the visitors sharing their own insights and changed perspectives (for a few such testimonials/reactions, please view the case study video). Their empathy led to a desire for action – all the leaflets with WAO’s hotline number were picked up without any prompting.

• The campaign generated over RM1,000,000 worth of unpaid PR

• There was an increase in call-ins by 20% to WAO during the campaign period

• WAO’s Facebook page got 35% more Likes within the month

• At the end of the exhibition, the ceramic busts were auctioned off for a total of RM42,000, with all profits going to WAO’s campaign against domestic violence