What kind of icons, image forms and artistic ideas do the grandchildren of those who were building the Future classless society create in the conditions of class society restoration of the Past?
"Like That. Polyvinyl acetate" project is a unique attempt to initiate a discussion on specific issues of the contemporary art in Armenia within the museum area (house-studio of Armenian modernism classics Harutyun and Armine Kanlents). The goal of the project is to get yet young, beginner artists and art critics involved in the critical discourse of art. Within the framework of the project an exhibition, presenting works done in various media by young artists from Gyumri and Yerevan, as well as presentations and discussions of the works of the artists interested in using new ways in art will be organized.
On the other hand many artists and curators aren’t able to find any available space for exhibiting their work. Therefore, there is a great need for alternative places. This very project could initiate events in urban spaces—in abandoned buildings, empty spaces, public places, etc., that will lead to alternative ways of presenting art.
The situation is not any different from that of the 80s: prior to Perestroika and during. Artists would present exhibitions in abandoned buildings and parks because there were no spaces for avant-garde or contemporary art. In the 90s an institutional boom fostered a parade of institutions emerging one after another. Today, some of them are closed down or lack funding. Thus, with the actualization of outdoor exhibitions and site-specific projects, we are calling for new potential institutional structures that are based on collaboration and creativity.
The main goal of the project is investigating open urban space, that is available for artistic activities. With this project we will try to make the city functional from an artistic point of view. It is also an opportunity for artists and curators to find new places for exhibitions of contemporary art.
The project is organized in the framework of Transkaukazja Fstival started in Warsaw in 2004. The project has been funded with support from the European Commission in the framework of the Culture Program 2007-2013.
Program:
April 26, 5pm-8pm, panel discussion "Latest transformations of public space in Yerevan"
Mekhitar Sebastatsi Educational Complex, Art School, 69/1 Raffi str. 2nd floor, screening room
First panel speakers: Vardan Jaloyan: “Art and the right of the city”. Hrach Bayadyan: “To persuade or to constrain? Some strategies of cultural hegemony in Armenia”. Moderator: Vardan Azatyan
Second panel speakers: Susanna Gyulamiryan “Public Art: State Needs/ What Needs?”. Vahram Aghasyan “Trash Islands”. Misak Khostikyan ”Not a physical space”. Moderator: Ruben Arevshatyan
April 26 - 30 actions, shows in the city; Karen Alekyan: installation “Social Values”(Bangladesh, Raffi str. )
Tigran Arakelyan: stickers – announcements (you can find in the city on the desks or columns)
Art Laboratory; Edgar Amroyan, Garik Yengibaryan, Arthur Petrosyan, Ara Petrosyan, Hovnan Qartashyan
April 27 - 29 11am - 6pm, Gohar Karapetyan and David Nubaryan, Armenian Open University, Department of Fine Arts, installation “Landscape Garden”(Mashtots Ave.9)
April 27, 3 pm, Sahak Poghosyan – photo exhibition “Ko-Char City” (Northern Avenue)
April 27, 6 pm, Narine Zolyan, Thomas Schindler, Heriknaz Galstyan, Mher Azatyan, Ruben Mangasaryan, Mara Mirzoyan; group exhibition “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” (Kond, Rustaveli 59)
April 28, 3 pm - 5 pm, Tsomak, Yevgenia Asatryan, Hamlet Mkhitaryan; sound performances in a subway
April 29, 3pm, AJZ, Harutyun Alpetyan and Nvard Yerkanyan; demonstration "Say No to Art in Public Space" (Sayat-Nova 9-11)
April 29, 6 pm, Presentation by LAPS artists group from Switzerland (Alek Manukyan 8/1)
April 30, 5 pm-8 pm. Closing discussion Organizations: The Other Space Foundation (Warsaw), AICA Armenia, Suburb Cultural Center, Utopiana Venues: Mekhitar Sebastatsi Art School, AJZ Space and different locations in the city.
CITIZENS OF EMPTY SPACEEMPTY SPACES FOR CULTURAL, ARTISTIC AND CIVIC CITIZEN'S INITIATIVE.
"Nothing is as vast as empty space"; F.Bacon
WHO HAS THE MONOPOLY OF URBAN SPACE? WHERE IS THE LIMIT BETWEEN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SPACE? WHAT ARE THE POSSIBILITIES AND POTENTIALITIES OF EMPTY SPACE? WHERE CAN I EXPRESS MYSELF FREELY IN A PUBLIC SPACE? TO WHO DOES THE EMPTY SPACES OF THE CITY BELONGS? WHAT CAN I DO TO CHANGE THE SITUATION WITH PUBLIC SPACE IN MY CITY?
If one of these question appeals to you than this initiative is for you; RECLAIM (TAKE) THE EMPTY SPACE OF YOUR CITY and change the way we use and inhabit the spaces of our city This initiative is willing to bring together different needs and desire expressed by the citizen's of Yerevan in the civic, cultural and artistic sphere in order to deploy them over the public space of the city. Within this context, the initiative is searching to open up a space/platform for debate and discussion to question the nature of empty space and its hidden potentials and possibilities. Even if most of the so called "public space" of the city has been privatised or is in a privatisation process, we think there is an urge to question the authorities and the wider society on the notion of emptiness and publicness. If spaces in the city remain unused or disused, could we assume that empty spaces in the city are belonging to all of us? While dis-functional factories, commercial spaces and houses are left to decay, while unfinished construction sites are swaying the landscape, while abandoned public space and places are rented for commercial purposes, people in the city no longer have spaces for their needs and desire for cultural, artistic and civic expression. In this sense, we hope that an initiative fostered by local actors and activists at different levels, cultural, artistic and civic, will not only provide a space to connect to each other and form a collective force, but also point out at political and economical mis-practice, leading to question the transformation of the society as a whole.
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Possessing never-ending energy, ravaging humor and a historical pertinence that continues to affirm itself each day since 1969, Carole Roussopoulos de Kalbermatten, whether alone or in a group, has never ceased to reinvent essay forms and visual analyses, in order to document the struggles of feminists, homosexuals, workers and anti-imperialists. Her considerable body of work covers 40 years of struggle, 40 years of combats won thanks to intelligence and political savoir-faire, victorious on legislative terrain, but never on the changing terrain of mentalities and behaviors. more...
Born in Lausanne, in 1945, Carole Roussopoulos spent her childhood in Sion, before moving to Paris in 1967. Two years later, she bought one of her first portable cameras, Sony’s infamous “Portapack.” Along with her companion, Paul Roussopoulos, she founded the first militant video collective, “Video Out.” This militant video follows the thematic of the cultural contestation issue of May ’68.
As the director and producer of nearly 150 documentaries, Carole Roussopoulos has always privileged those “without a voice,” oppressed and excluded, the anonymous, who have left a mark on history, and has supported the struggles of women: “The portable video camera awarded a voice to those directly concerned, obliged to succumb to the nagging of journalists and the media, and enabled them to produce their own information.”
“To privilege the opinions of those “without a voice”: In this regard, a methodological link should be established between this present historical work and Arlette Farge’s historical retrospective, produced along the same decades. Carole and Paul Roussopoulos have demonstrated an innate talent for analysis, over decades of visual activism, which places them at the very heart of history.
The project is comprised of the following elements:
Evening in honor of Carole Roussopoulos
The projection of the film, “Debout! Une histoire du Mouvement du Libération des Femmes (1970-1980)”, produced by Carole Roussopoulos, France-Switzerland, 90 min. (in French, with Armenian subtitles)
A discussion around the struggles of the 1970s and their impact
Reception
Entrance by invitation
Wednesday, the 9th of March, 2011, at 17:00 Médiathèque of the French Embassy in Armenia, 8 Grigor Loussavoritch Rd
“DEBOUT! UNE HISTOIRE DU MOUVEMENT DE LIBERATION DES FEMMES 1970-1980”
Production: Carole Roussopoulos
France, Switzerland, Carole Roussopoulos, 1999, 90 min., color
The second half of the 20th century gave birth to one of the most extraordinary social movements: the women’s liberation movement. In the outburst of May ’68, only 2-3 women united around the issue, first in France, French-speaking Switzerland as well as numerous other Western countries, before encompassing the Third World. Then, the initial members expanded to a small handful, and very rapidly, to include hundreds, in a most spontaneous, non-hierarchical manner. Nevertheless, this movement, which has overturned our present society, remains neither known nor recognized in the intellectual sphere. Representing a gap within the media, an ignored story, the militants of the 70s have passed from caricatures to the forgotten. Whereas these women were held to compose “those poorly screwed”, today they are considered to be “old-fashioned.” Thus, the aim of this film is to pay tribute those women, who created and pushed this movement forward. Through numerous archives (sonorous, photographic or audiovisual), it honors their intelligence, audacity and humor. In the interviews, which constitute one of the main materials for the film, around twenty French and Swiss women classify the assets and the limits of these assets. In this sense, the film serves as a connection between the female pioneers and the new generations of the movement.
THE PROJECTION AND DISCUSSION AROUND CAROLE ROUSSOPOULOS’ FILMS, TRANSLATED AND SUBTITLED IN ARMENIAN
List of films:
CINQUANTENAIRE DU DEUXIEME SEXE 1949-99
Production: Carole Roussopoulos, in collaboration with Christine Delphy, France, Association Cinquantenaire du deuxième sexe, 2001, 47 min., color
In January 1999, fifty years after Simone de Beauvoir’s inspiring Le Deuxième Sexe was published, a conference united women from 37 different count
ries in Paris. The film alternates between key moments of the conference, the testimonials of de Beauvoir’s close relations, and encounters with the women, who have traveled from all four corners of the world, in order to discuss the role that Le Deuxième Sexe has played within their lives.
VIOL CONJUGAL, VIOL A DOMICILE (MARITAL RAPE, DOMESTIC RAPE)
Production: Carole Roussopoulos, Véronique Ducret
Switzerland, Le 2e Observatoire, Solidarité Femmes, Viol-Secours, 2003, 30 min. and 90 mi 30 sec., color
Numerous are the women, who have been victims of rape. Three of them express their pain and anger. Medical, social and juridical professionals in Geneva also contribute to the project. The juridical viewpoint underlines gaps that remain within Swiss legislation.
GENET PARLE D’ANGELA DAVIS (GENET SPEAKS ABOUT ANGELA DAVIS)
Production: Carole Roussopoulos
France, Vidéo Out, 1970, 7 min., black-and-white
On the morning following the arrest of Angela Davis, in October 1970, Jean Genet read a text, which denounced the political racism of the United States, and demonstrated support for Black Panthers Party and Angela Davis, for a television broadcast, which was eventually censored.
Y’A QU’A PAS BAISER!
Production: Carole Roussopoulos
France, Vidéo Out, 1973, 17 min., black-and-white
A documentary in favor of abortion and free access to contraceptives. The film alternates between images of the first major feminist protest, which took place in Paris on the 20th of November 1971, and images of an illegal abortion, according to the Karman method.
S.C.U.M. MANIFESTO
Production: Carole Roussopoulos, Delphine Seyrig
France, Les Insoumuses, 1976, 27 min., black-and-white
A staged reading of extracts of the “S.C.U.M. Manifesto” (Society for Cutting Up Men) written by Valerie Solanas, edited in 1967, and no longer available in French. Delphine Seyrig translates a few passages for Carole Roussopoulos, who sits with a typewriter. In the background, a television set directly broadcasts the images from the news, from which we occasionally hear apocalyptic reports. Similar to a book, the film serves as a pamphlet against a society, which is dominated by the “male” image and the “virile” action.
L’INCESTE, LA CONSPIRATION DES OREILLES BOUCHEES
Production: Carole Roussopoulos
France, Collectif Féministe contre le Viol, 1988, 30 min., color
Claudine, Monique, Emmanuelle and Anne, who met each other thanks to a telephone permanence “Viols Femmes Informations,” testify of incest rapes, endured during their childhood. They remember their distress and their attempt to cease the actions of their father or grandfathers. They evoke the signs and hopeful words, in order to reach out for help within their entourage.
IL FAUT PARLER: PORTRAIT DE RUTH FAYON (WE MUST SPEAK: PORTRAIT OF RUTH FAYON)
Production: Carole Roussopoulos with Rina Nissim
Switzerland, Espace Femmes International, 2003, 29 min., color
After thirty years of silence, Ruth Fayon, deported by the Nazi regime during the Second World War, accepts to regularly confront the inexpressible around adolescents. For this inspiring testimonial, Primo Levi joins Ruth Fayon, thanks to archival images.
POUR VOUS LES FILLES! (FOR YOU, GIRLS!)
Production: Carole Roussopoulos, based on Franceline Dupenloup’s idea
Switzerland, Carole Roussopoulos, 2006, 25 min.30, color
The publication of the book “Les Femmes dans la mémoire de Genève” (The Women of Geneva’s Memory) confirms the lack of recognition offered to the women, who have marked history. In addition, following a petition about the absence of female models in educational programs, Amal Safi meets Franceline Dupenloup, responsible for equality at the DIP. Thanks to gender studies, various works have finally shed some light on the priceless contribution of women. Patricia Roux explains the aims of these studies, and two of her students explain why they decided to participate in them. The absence of female models in the sciences and informatics is one of the reasons for the low percentage of female engineers, which has been further confirmed by two students from the Haute école, in Wallis.
FEMMES MUTILEES, PLUS JAMAIS! (MUTILATED WOMEN, NEVER AGAIN!)
Production: Fatxiya Ali Aden, Sahra Osman, with the collaboration of Carole Roussopoulo, from the Centre Suisses-Immigrés Sion Suisse, from l’Institut International des Droits de l’Enfant (IDE) Sion Suisse
Switzerland, Carole Roussopoulos, 2007, 35 min., color
Fatxiya Ali Aden and Sarah Osman, two young women from Somalia, living in Switzerland, were both excised during their childhoods. As adults, along with Hamalia, the women denounce these mutilations, and seek to encounter the Swiss pioneers in the denouncement of these practices, whose primary aim is to strip women of their dignity.
DES FLEURS POUR SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR (FLOWERS FOR SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR)
Production: Carole Roussopoulos, Arlène Shale
France, Carole Roussopoulos, 2007, 22 min., black-and-white and color
French and Subtitled English Versions
On the 14th of April 1986, the loss of Simone de Beauvoir shocked women worldwide. The archival images and the interviews of three major figures of international feminism, Americans Ti-Grace Atkinson and Kate Millett, and French Christine Delphy, underline the importance of the philosophical and feminist heritage left by Simone de Beauvoir.
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City in Use
Une Voix AU ‘Ssns Voix’ (Giving a Voice to The Silnet)