mission, vision, values
Mission
Expressing the Invisible is a social innovation initiative led by people with lived experience expertise and supported by a network of allies.
Expressing the Invisible aims to create spaces where people with lived experience expertise can share their voices, exercise their leadership, and put their expertise at the heart of artistic and participatory projects.
Expressing the Invisible transforms art into a space for connection, expression, and dialogue, where lived experiences, worldviews, and aspirations can take their place in the public sphere. Through creativity and collaboration, the initiative helps recognize and value lived experience expertise, strengthen the agency of those directly concerned, and build bridges between communities, practice and research settings, institutions, and the broader public. It also contributes to the development of a network of people with lived experience expertise by creating opportunities for them to apply their knowledge and leadership across a wide range of projects.
Through this mission, Expressing the Invisible contributes to reducing stigma, transforming practices, and fostering a more just and inclusive society, rooted in the lived realities of the people most directly concerned.
Vision
We envision a society where people with lived and living experience related to substance use, homelessness, mental health challenges, criminalization, or sex work are recognized for the value of the knowledge and insight gained through their lived experiences. A society where their voices, expertise, and contributions are fully acknowledged, where they participate in decisions that affect them, and where they play an active role in transforming communities, practices, and spaces for dialogue.
We believe that artistic expression, collective creativity, and participatory approaches are powerful catalysts for promoting well-being, strengthening personal and collective agency, reducing stigma, advancing social justice, and fostering civic engagement.
Values
Recognition
Expressing the Invisible affirms the value of lived experience expertise and recognizes it as a distinct and essential form of expertise.
Our experiences, perspectives, knowledge, and creativity contribute to a deeper understanding of lived realities and to the transformation of practices and society. This expertise deserves to be recognized, valued, and fairly compensated.
By bringing visibility to voices, realities, and expertise that are too often overlooked, marginalized, or discredited, Expressing the Invisible helps challenge prejudice, reduce stigma, and foster more inclusive and equitable representation of those directly concerned in spaces of participation and decision-making.
SELF-DETERMINATION
Expressing the Invisible is rooted in our right to speak for ourselves, define our own priorities, and take on meaningful leadership in the projects and initiatives that concern us.
We play an active role in decisions and in every stage of an initiative, from conception and implementation to evaluation and knowledge sharing. Our lived experience expertise, perspectives, and aspirations guide projects and help shape the priorities and actions of Expressing the Invisible.
This self-determination strengthens our individual and collective agency and enables the development of projects that are truly grounded in the realities, needs, and aspirations of those directly concerned. It also helps build self-confidence, a sense of legitimacy, and the ability to claim one's place, make informed choices, and exercise greater control over one's own life. In doing so, it can open the door to new opportunities for engagement, participation, and leadership, both within these projects and beyond them.
TRANSFORMATION
Expressing the Invisible sees art, collective creation, and the power of speaking out as catalysts for personal growth, community engagement, and social change.
Through creativity, we can express our realities, share our expertise, challenge dominant narratives, and bring different experiences and perspectives into conversation. Art becomes a space for connection, collective action, well-being, and reclaiming the power to shape our own lives and communities.
By creating connections among people with lived and living experience, communities, practitioners, researchers, institutions, and the wider public, we strive to shift perspectives, rethink approaches, and challenge power structures to help build a more just and inclusive society.
