Freedom Center’s Interactive ‘Motel X’ Exhibition Aims to Shed Light on Human Trafficking – Cincinnati CityBeat

Courtesy of the National Underground Railroad Freedom CenterAs guests walk throughMotel X at Freedom Center, they'll encounter the story of a teenage girl forced into sex slavery by human traffickers. Opening Jan. 11, the interactive installation was designed by Cincinnati-based filmmaker and artist Christine Marque.

The seed of the idea can be traced back to when Marque was 14 years old. As she explains in a Kickstarter campaign she started last November,she encountered the term "human trafficking" for the first timewhile writing a paper for school. As she investigated further, she found that being a 14-year-old girl in Ohio made her the most at-risk to be trafficked.

Years later, that initial seed is coming to fruition via Motel X, a multimedia project that aims to bring larger awareness to human trafficking. According to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, Ohio ranks fourth in the nation for most cases reported, with over 400 in 2018. Recognizing these statistics including the fact that cases in the United States have increased steadily since 2012 Motel X, per a press release, "hopes to evoke an empathetic link to practical knowledge to fight back and also to give survivors a platform to share their stories."

In the exhibit, as attendees open the motel room and enter the room they'll find clues scattered throughout that reveal warning signs, statistics and actions that can be taken to help fight human trafficking. Guests then enter the bathroom, where they're introduced to an immigrant worker unintentionally caught up in the crossfires of trafficking.

According to the release, "clues include audio tracks, dressers with items of clothing that reveal information when moved and a bedside Bible that, when opened, reveals stark facts about human trafficking." Upon leaving the bathroom, visitors are then led into a gallery featuring artwork by local survivors.

According the Kickstarter, the project's total budget is $32,000. (They had already raised $22,000 at the time of the Kickstarter and raised another $5,314 through the campaign.) According to a video posted to the campaign's page, The Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile, Jr. U.S. Bank Foundation also provided a grant.

"The University of Cincinnati did a study and found that between 2014 and 2016 over1,000 victims were identified here in Ohio," Marque says in the video. "Human trafficking happens here and we need to know about it."

On display through April 5. On Jan. 11, Marque will give a gallery talk at 1 p.m. Admission is $5 with general admission; free for members.For more info, visit freedomcenter.org/motelx.

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Freedom Center's Interactive 'Motel X' Exhibition Aims to Shed Light on Human Trafficking - Cincinnati CityBeat