Bandana Philomela

5 euros of each bandana are donated to a woman shelter house in Berlin. The shelter is a secret house that provides a refugee for women who are escaping from domestic violence.

Cotton black bandana with off white print. The bandana is 60 x 60 cm (approximately 24×24 inches).

TRIGGER WARNING: Sexual abuse

According to an old Greek myth, Philomela was raped by her sister’s husband. She wanted to expose him, so he cut her tongue therefor she couldn’t tell anyone. Unable to speak Philomena then wove a tapestry to show her sister what her husband did to her. She was relentless on her quest for revenge and this angered her rapist. The man decided to kill her to silence her forever. The gods were very upset and they helped Philomena by turning her into a nightingale that flew away, escaping from her abuser. In her bird form she was able to finally sing her story. Because of the violence associated with the myth, the song of the nightingale is often depicted as beautiful and sorrowful.
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I have made this illustration as a form of support to those women who choose to tell their story, recover their voices and resist those forces which attempt to silence them.