Confronting Suppressed Emotions

At the Julio Art Space, Paris; an evocative exhibition curated by second-year Bachelor students in Arts Management confronts viewers with a compelling question: What happens to emotions we were taught to suppress? Titled “Nos émotions n’étaient pas censées survivre” (Our feelings were not meant to survive), the exhibition offers a poignant meditation on care, vulnerability, and the transformative power of artistic expression.

At the heart of the curatorial vision lies a radical reclaiming of fragility as strength. In many societies, vulnerability, especially when associated with femininity, is often dismissed as weakness, something to be hidden or overcome. This exhibition, however, pushes back. It insists that caring is not only an act, but a language: one that is intimate, intuitive, and deeply human.

Elevating Emotion to Necessity

Drawing inspiration from Audre Lorde’s powerful essay Poetry is Not a Luxury, the show elevates emotion to a realm of necessity. Just as Lorde described poetry as a tool for envisioning change and awakening the self, the exhibited works serve as visual poems, delicate yet assertive expressions that make the invisible visible. Through their practices, the participating artists craft a language of their own, one that emerges from the raw material of lived experience.

 

Weaving a Web of Care

The exhibition features the works of Irene Abello, Odonchimeg Davaadorj, and Bruna Vettori, three artists whose voices echo with clarity and tenderness. Each explores themes of trauma, healing, and the feminine psyche, weaving a web of care that transcends time and borders. Their creations function not just as artistic expressions but as vessels of collective memory and emotional resonance.

Abello, Davaadorj, and Vettori don’t just present their stories, they invite us into them. Through installations, drawings, and mixed media, they offer viewers a mirror for their own unspoken experiences. The artworks hum with a quiet strength, tracing the contours of pain and hope, loss and renewal. These are not works that shout; they whisper, and in doing so, demand our attention.

Building an Emotional Sanctuary

What emerges from this exhibition is a sanctuary of sorts, an emotional space where softness is valorized and community is formed through mutual recognition. As visitors move through the space, they are not just observing but participating in an ongoing process of care. The show becomes a kind of collective exhale, a reminder that surviving emotions is an act of resistance, and that within fragility lies a quiet, enduring power.

“Our Feelings Were Not Meant to Survive” is more than an exhibition. It is a gesture of solidarity, a healing ritual, and a brave assertion that emotions deserve to be seen, held, and honored.