Projection and discussion
Who Is Afraid of Ideology?
Marwa Arsanios in conversation with Marie Voignier
07 Apr 2022
The event is over
Marwa Arsanios is an artist, filmmaker and researcher whose works take the form of installations, performances and images in motion. In her work she reviews the political development of the second half of the 20th century from a contemporary perspective, with a special focus on gender relations, collectivism, urbanism and industrialisation. Her practice ranges through many disciplines, being particularly revealed in collaborative projects.
The Who Is Afraid of Ideology? series of videos, which she began in 2017, weaves a criss-cross pathway through the anticolonial struggles of women – notably encountered northern Syria and Colombia – to claim the right to the earth and to reconnect with nature in a non-publicised manner. Self-defence, ecofeminism, property, healing, resistance to State control, autonomy, community and land rights define the terrain shared by women who resist "extractivist" industries. The issues raised by Marwa Arsanios probe not only the way in which ideology and theory coincide with living practices, but also the way in which observers existing outside these circles of struggle can embody responses. The first two parts of Who Is Afraid of Ideology? are articulated around interviews the artist conducted with members of the Kurdish Women's Autonomous Movement in Iraqi Kurdistan and in Jinwar, a commune reserved for women in northern Syria, exploring the possibilities of a political praxis founded on living close to nature and involvement in the armed struggle. The third part is inspired by exchanges between the artist and ecological feminists encountered in southern Tolima, in Colombia, and focuses on the current systemic war conducted by transnational companies against the smallest and most essential element of life: seeds. She establishes a link between the violent history of murders and purges and the guardians of seeds.
The first three parts of Who Is Afraid of Ideology? are shown during this session, before a conversation between Marwa Arsanios and artist and filmmaker Marie Voignier, which will discuss the most recent developments in this long-term project.
Marwa Arsanios, Who Is Afraid of Ideology? Part 1, 2017, video, colour, sound, 18 min 16 s.
Marwa Arsanios, Who Is Afraid of Ideology? Part 2, 2019, video, colour, sound, 38 min 44 s. µ
Marwa Arsanios, Who Is Afraid of Ideology? Part 3: Micro Resistencias, 2020, video, colour, sound, 31 min 17 s.
Marwa Arsanios
Marwa Arsanios is an artist, filmmaker and researcher who was born in Washington in 1978. She currently lives and works between Berlin and Beirut. Several solo exhibitions have been dedicated to her work in many institutions: the Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati (2021); Skuc Gallery, Ljubljana (2018); Beirut Art Center (2017); Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2016); Witte de With, Rotterdam (2016); Kunsthalle Lissabon, Lisbon (2015); Art in General, New York (2015).
Marie Voignier
Marie Voignier is an artist and filmmaker. She studied at the University of Technology in Compiègne (UTC), then in Berlin (TUB), where she began to take photographs. To pursue this practice, she studied arts at the School of Fine Art in Lyon. Her work then focussed on making films that are now shown in international film festivals (e.g. Berlinale, FID, Viennale) and in exhibitions in France and elsewhere (Venice Biennale in 2017, LAXART and Guangdong Times Museum in 2019).
When
6pm - 9pm
Where
Marwa Arsanios, Who Is Afraid of Ideology? Part 2, 2019 (extrait), Galerie mor charpentier.
© D.R.