This year, on the 25th of November, I was able to witness one of the most unique ways of supporting the fight against domestic violence. This was an exhibition that took place in la Plaza de Vázquez de Mella in Chueca, Madrid (very close to Gran Vía). The exhibition included works of graffiti art, music and general information postings about the dangers of domestic violence and how to spot signs of it occurring.

The graffiti art produced was absolutely stunning not only in terms of the message each piece conveyed, but also the extraordinary creativity that went into the creation of each work. Works ranged from Russian Dolls with different forms of abuse being shown on their "bodies" to the nightmare of an old woman. The artists where not only using spray paint to create these images - one artist also was trying to convey love with the use of magazine clippings reporting violence in the world (not necessarily domestic).

The music that was being performed live ranged from eletronic music DJ's to hardcore Spanish reggaeton/rap - a very interesting mix. The lyrics of the reggaeton, however, were quite different from the normal anger/hate spouting stuff that comes out of Puerto Rico - it was about taking care of yourself. Therefore, I guess it could be considered "Intelligent Reggaeton" if that even exists. It was really energetic and I believe it helped to draw a bigger crowd - which is always helpful when you're trying to get a message across.

One of the other great things of this exhibition was a mural that was created to show people's committment to fight against domestic violence. It had purple handprints, graffiti tags and little messages scrawled all over it. It was one of the most inspiring things I've seen - much more so than the aforementioned manicured graffiti. There is something so intriguing and exciting about the raw creativity of human beings impassioned by the same idea. It was like witnessing the start of a really important social movement for Spain - since "machismo" and domestic violence is such a huge problem in the country.

I spent about an hour (it was a small exhibit) looking and listening to the different stimulus offered to me. It was a really exciting and uplifting experience. My only quams with the whole experience is that it seemed to be set back from any major area - even though it was in one of the biggest plazas in Chueca. It just wasn't prominent enough to really draw any sort of response from people.

I think domestic violence is a really serious problem in society. It's a social issue that is often over-looked for other, more seemingly important, issues that people struggle to solve. With this idea heavy in my mind, I grabed up a button that reads "Machis¡NO!" that I wear on my backpack. A lot of people have noticed it and ask me about it - my response is to get into a whole rant about the day, it's importance, and my experience that day in Chueca.

I hope that every year I get to go to some sort of celebration - hopefully not sombre - to promote awareness for this extremely important topic. I also hope that anyway reading this experience seriously evaluates their own standpoint on the situation in their own country, and does something about it.