FEMALE 30 videos - 30 artists (30 countries - 60 min)

________

___________________________________________

________

___________________________________________

________

___________________________________________

________

___________________________________________

________

___________________________________________

________

___________________________________________

________

___________________________________________

________

___________________________________________

________

___________________________________________

________

___________________________________________

________

___________________________________________

________

___________________________________________

FEMALE

30 videos - 30 artists - 30 countries (60 min)

FLUID FLUX ♂ - Evgenija Demnievska (Serbia - 1)

EVERYTHING GOES DOWN WITH HER - Lucy Azubuike (Nigeria - 2)

DIFFICULT PASSAGE - Mouna Jemal Siala (Tunisia - 3)

"000" - Angelika Rinnhofer (Germany - 4)

KATIPA APAI - 3 / GO FIND YOURSELF - Katya Nikonorova (Kazakhstan - 5)

FEMALE - Maria Papacharalambous (Cyprus - 6)

LINEA DE TIEMPO / TIMELINE - Camila Rodríguez Triana (Colombia - 7

IN THE ROBING ROOM - Áine Phillips (Ireland - 8)

BOSQUE ESPESO - Amaranta Sánchez (Mexico - 9)

A CAGE OF BUTTERFLIES - Dagmar Kase (Estonia - 10)

VENUS - Nicoletta Stalder (Switzerland - 11)

CONSTRUCT: Emergence - Hanae Utamura (Japan - 12)

CROSSINGS - Cagdas Kahriman (Türkiye - 13)

BORN IN SPRING - Sudsiri Pui-Ock (Thailand - 14)

CONNECTING THE INVISIBLE - Madelon Hooykaas (Netherlands - 15)

THE WOMAN DOES NOT HAVE A MASK - Minoo Iranpour Mobarakeh (Iran - 16)

EVERYDAY MUDRAS - Doris Mayer (Austria - 17)

HUIS CLOS - Zoulikha Bouabdellah (Algeria - 18)

ISHTAR - Raya Mazigi (Lebanon - 19)

WIRE - Xiuwen Cui (China - 20)

HER LIFE UNWRAPPED - C. M. Judge (USA - 21)

THE CRY - Sara Malinarich (Chile - 22)

CLEANING THE MESSAGE - Raquel Kogan and Lea van Steen (Brazil - 23)

FEMALE VS FEMALE - Véronique Sapin (France / Canada - 24)

ARZNI SANATORIUM - Lusine Talalyan (Armenia - 25)

WE ARE WOMEN - Alena Kupcikova (Czech Republic - 26)

BUD - Anna Selander (Sweden - 27)

S/H/A/P/E - Sté Ternes (Luxembourg - 28)

NO COMMENT… - Vouvoula Skoura (Greece - 29)

BLOW VOICE - Angie Bonino (Peru - 30)

Concept

Women will truly be equal to men the day an incompetent woman is appointed to an important position.

Françoise Giroud (1916-2003) - Journalist, writer, and politician

In 2020, a parody page was created on Wikipedia. The subject: "A woman." It reads, for example: "Her mother was female"; "She worked as a journalist, chemist, rabbi, fighter pilot—among other talents"; "studies by historians indicate that she already existed in the Middle Ages"... As you can see, this article denounces the sexist biases found in the online encyclopedia and in the media. In particular, he highlights pages whose titles mention a woman's obtaining a position usually held by a man, such as: "a woman has been appointed" or "a woman has been elected," instead of "Mrs. Ixe has been appointed" or "Mrs. Igrec has been elected." A form of essentialism, in a way.

The mechanisms of patriarchy are embedded in the most banal elements of language; and although psycholinguistic studies have demonstrated that words shape our representations, little progress has been made in terms of the vocabulary used. In 1948, most countries around the world adopted the inclusive translation of "human rights" in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. But, for example, not France, which still includes "woman" in the word "man," with or without a capital letter.

However, we quickly stop lamenting this issue when we are confronted with chilling figures that remind us of the abomination of the number of women killed worldwide by their partners or family members: 140 women per day.

From childhood, women are confronted with the reality of inequalities between men and themselves. But deconstructing patriarchy and its values requires an awareness that we are more or less imbued with it, even entangled in it. It is difficult to become a full-fledged subject for someone who is unaware that they live within structures of domination that expect, or sometimes even demand, that they conform to ancestral roles that render them subservient. Becoming a full-fledged subject means, to paraphrase Michèle Le Doeuff, "not allowing anyone to think for them." For women, as for men, this is a complex goal to achieve.

Feeling feminist most often stems from our personal experience of what it means to be silenced, and/or to experience physical or psychological violence, or even from the deepest feeling that the fate of girls and women affects us, and that discriminatory behavior and stereotypical discourse absolutely no longer need to be tolerated.

No, there is no masculine nature that predisposes us to be or do what a feminine nature would not: apart from ejaculating for some; losing blood monthly (and sometimes becoming ill from it), giving birth, breastfeeding, and then suffering the pangs of menopause for others... But this is precisely where the very first reasons for men's control over women must be sought: in men's ability to enjoy themselves without any unpleasant consequences for themselves, and in women's ability to suffer the unpleasant consequences.

For several years now, we have been delighted that, in particular, the worlds of philosophy, cinema, and, of course, art, have finally understood that they can no longer do "without women."

We created the video composition Female between 2014 and 2015, at a time when these different worlds were realizing that they needed to change their mental software.

The video works included in Female are fully in line with the public debate. They lend themselves to being grouped under two major themes that echo and complement each other: the celebration of women and the legacies they must fight against.

1- Celebration

Odes to Women

Women have always been the pillars of our societies, but they are also pioneers, innovators, and thinkers. Their potential is limitless.

Mae Carol Jemison (1956- ) - American engineer, physician, professor, and astronaut

The videos included in this theme are created as an ode to women.

FLUID FLUX ♂ - Evgenija Demnievska (Serbia - 1)

FEMALE - Maria Papacharalambous (Cyprus - 6)

WIRE - Xiuwen Cui (China - 20)

CLEANING THE MESSAGE - Raquel Kogan and Lea van Steen (Brazil - 23)

The Affirmation of the Body

The body is a sacred thing, because it is the means of our action on the world.

Simone Weil (1909-1943) - Humanist Philosopher

It is only very recently that the female body, in its most intimate dimensions, has entered the public debate in many countries. Artists have taken up this torch. They celebrate the female body with a perspective free from judgment.

"000" - Angelika Rinnhofer (Germany - 4)

CONSTRUCT: Emergence - Hanae Utamura (Japan - 12)

BORN IN SPRING - Sudsiri Pui-Ock (Thailand - 14)

EVERYDAY MUDRAS - Doris Mayer (Austria - 17)

THE CRY - Sara Malinarich (Chile - 22)

BUD - Anna Selander (Sweden - 27)

NO COMMENT… - Vouvoula Skoura (Greece - 29)

Links Between Women

I am not free as long as any other woman is deprived of her freedom, even if her chains are very different from mine.

Audre Lorde (1934-1992) - Essayist and poet

And then there are moments of sharing, complicity, and transmission between generations, when women create bonds with each other.

LINEA DE TIEMPO / TIMELINE - Camila Rodríguez Triana (Colombia - 7)

CONNECTING THE INVISIBLE - Madelon Hooykaas (Netherlands - 15)

HER LIFE UNWRAPPED - C. M. Judge (USA - 21)

2 - Legacies

Women are not victims of some mysterious fate: we must not conclude that their ovaries condemn them to live eternally on their knees.

Simone Weil (1909-1943) - Humanist Philosopher

Since childhood, stereotypes and mythological narratives have imprisoned women in a vision of themselves that they have internalized as natural or derived from intransgressible norms, and which thus perpetuate their oppression.

The artists question and deconstruct this type of indirect violence by exploring how women have been shaped by history, traditions, and cultures. They also pay tribute to their ability to be active agents in their lives, to rise up, and to fight for their rights. Other video works focus on deconstructions and rewritings by exploring the tensions between heritage and emancipation, between continuity and rupture.

Traditions

Woman, if you want to fly, abandon everything that weighs you down.

Anonymous

Traditions are an essential element of individual identity. They can be a source of pride, a connection to our roots, and a means of transmitting values. But they can also be a source of constraints, stereotypes, and discrimination. For the video composition, the artists were primarily inspired by the restrictive and oppressive aspects of traditions.

EVERYTHING GOES DOWN WITH HER - Lucy Azubuike (Nigeria - 2)

DIFFICULT PASSAGE - Mouna Jemal Siala (Tunisia - 3)

THE WOMAN DOES NOT HAVE A MASK - Minoo Iranpour Mobarakeh (Iran - 16)

HUIS CLOS - Zoulikha Bouabdellah (Algeria - 18)

ISHTAR - Raya Mazigi (Lebanon - 19)

Stereotypes and Assignments

For most of history, 'Anonymous' was a woman.

Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) - Woman of Letters

The stereotypes and assignments that weigh on women are at the heart of certain videos. The artists rewrite history, the place of women in society and the world, and they deconstruct the narratives and myths that confine them. These works give a voice to forgotten women in this process of rewriting.

IN THE ROBING ROOM - Áine Phillips (Ireland - 8)

ARZNI SANATORIUM - Lusine Talalyan (Armenia - 25)

S/H/A/P/E - Sté Ternes (Luxembourg - 28)

Reinventing Yourself

The future is a rough sea where women will hold the helm.

George Sand (1804-1876) - Writer, literary critic, and journalist

The ability to reinvent oneself, to redefine oneself in order to free oneself from constraints, is explored by artists who appropriate words, symbols, and representations to repurpose them, transform them, and imbue them with new meaning.

BOSQUE ESPESO - Amaranta Sánchez (Mexico - 9)

A CAGE OF BUTTERFLIES - Dagmar Kase (Estonia - 10)

VENUS - Nicoletta Stalder (Switzerland - 11)

WE ARE WOMEN - Alena Kupcikova (Czech Republic - 26)

Breakups

I would like my existence to serve to prove that talent is not the preserve of one sex.

Sophie Germain (1776-1831) - Mathematician, physicist, and philosopher

If women are the heirs of the past, they are also agents of change. It is because they have always had to face specific challenges that artists have chosen to depict those who rise up, who rebuild, who transcend challenges. Their works offer an aesthetic of inner strength, of regained dignity by exploring ruptures, the moments when women dare to say no, when they rebel against the established order that oppresses them.

KATIPA APAI - 3 / GO FIND YOURSELF - Katya Nikonorova (Kazakhstan - 5)

CROSSINGS - Cagdas Kahriman (Türkiye - 13)

FEMALE VS FEMALE - Véronique Sapin (France / Canada - 24)

BLOW VOICE - Angie Bonino (Peru - 30)

________

___________________________________________

________

___________________________________________

________

___________________________________________