Beat. is our project exploring the ominous silence surrounding domestic violence, featuring an interactive installation and a video. The project was a prompt to societies that react to any loud noise, as long as it is not caused by a domestic dispute or abuse.

For the installation, we brought the drum set into a gallery. We collaborated with survivors of domestic violence, and we recorded their voices. Then we invited people to play the drums – but in their headphones each beat was transformed. Photographer’s Yana Lozeva series “Faces of empathy” captures the emotions when one realizes that each beat of the drum equals a scream of a survivor.

For the video, we rented the apartment below the one where a woman was recently murdered by her partner, and conducted a social experiment. It became instantly viral, reaching hundreds of thousands of people online. Our campaign amplified the voices of survivors, and gave neighbours specific advice what to do in case they witness violence.

Visit the campaign website, and see how you can make a difference.  

Beat. is a project by Maksim Stoimenov (drummer) and Peruna Keremidchieva (developer), produced by Fine Acts. It is the winner of our first Act Lab - unique events that explore the intersection of human rights, art and technology. We pair artists and technologists in two-person teams, we brief them excessively on a specific issue, and then we give them a weekend to come up with a solution. At the end, a jury awards the best ideas with funds for implementation.