Personal Testimony Reading Marathon
11 April 2026, 16:00–20:00
Physical Evidence Museum, 34 Vienības Street, Daugavpils
The opening of the Daugavpils edition of Physical Evidence Museum took the form of a four-hour reading marathon dedicated to women’s experiences of domestic and intimate partner violence. The event became a live extension of the documentary exhibition: experiences preserved through objects and written testimonies were given a human voice.
The reading included real accounts of domestic and intimate partner violence, including testimonies submitted to the museum by people from Daugavpils and the wider Latgale region. They were read by women who had experienced violence themselves, as well as by supporters, local activists and the exhibition’s creators.
The marathon became a symbolic act of solidarity and an attempt to break the silence sustained by fear, stigma and deeply rooted social prejudice. Anonymously submitted testimonies were given a voice without requiring their authors to reveal their identities or publicly relive what they had experienced.
For four hours, the apartment housing the exhibition became a space of collective attention and careful listening. Visitors could arrive at any point between 16:00 and 20:00, remain for as long as they wished, move through the exhibition and listen to the testimonies being read.
The opening brought together the exhibition’s three documentary layers — the object, the written testimony and the human voice. Private experiences became a collective act of listening and solidarity, while preserving each contributor’s anonymity and right to determine the boundaries of their own visibility.