af_mioloactoutdl2:Layout 1 12/14/10 3:49 PM Page 1 af_mioloactoutdl2:Layout 1 12/14/10 3:49 PM Page 2 PerfOrmAtiVe VideO by ACt OUt nOrdiC wOmen Artists www.actout.uevora.pt af_mioloactoutdl2:Layout 1 12/14/10 3:49 PM Page 4 WITH SUPPORT OF: ACT OUT PHOTOGRAPHY AND VIDEO (DAVD) PERFORMATIVE VIDEO BY NORDIC WOMEN ARTISTS Gonçalo Jardim, Sílvio Matos, Luís Afonso and Teresa A project from Centre of Art History and Artistic Furtado Investigation (CHAIA) of the University of Évora (UE) and FIlmform, Sweden. ACT OUT BAGS DESIGN Marta Riera CONFERENCE Auditorium of Colégio do Espírito Santo at UE: DESIGN OF WEBSITE AND FLYERS Nov. 24 - 25, 2008 Teresa Furtado WORKSHOPS WEBSITE Department of Visual Arts and Design (DAVD) www.actout.uevora.pt Edifício dos Leões at UE: Nov. 26 - 28, 2008 CATALOGUE EXHIBITION All the images included are courtesy of the artists and Torre do Salvador, Direcção Geral da Cultura Filmform do Alentejo, Évora: Nov. 24 - 30, 2008 DESIGN ORGANISATION Teresa Furtado, Gonçalo Jardim and Inês Vieira da Silva ACt OUt Anna Linder (Filmform), Manuela Cristóvão (CHAIA) and Teresa Furtado (CHAIA) TRANSLATION from Portuguese (pp. 8, 34-35, 56-61), Swedish (pp. performative video by CURATORS 10-11), Danish and Norwegian (image titles pp. 50-55) Anna Linder (Filmform) and Teresa Furtado (CHAIA) by João Neves: [email protected] nordic women Artists CONFERENCE ASSISTANCE (DAVD) SPONSORING Marius Araújo and Marta Riera Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia / Edited by Teresa Furtado Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior EXHIBITION ASSISTANCE (DAVD) Filipe Rebelo (coord.), Marius Araújo, Marta Riera, ISBN Sílvio Matos, and Vanda Sim Sim 978-972-8661-54-0 EMBAIXADA DA DINAMARCA SECRETARIAT DEPÓSITO LEGAL 320692/10 Rosalina Batata and Judite Martins (DAVD) Ana Margarida Pereira (CHAIA) PRINTED AND BOUND BY TIPOGRAFIA LOUSANENSE WORKSHOPS ASSISTANCE (DAVD) PUBLISHED BY EDITORA LICORNE António Caramelo, Filipe Rebelo, Luís Afonso and editoralicorne.blogspot.com Rui Valério Editora Licorne af_mioloactoutdl2:Layout 1 12/14/10 3:49 PM Page 6 MANUELA CRISTÓVÃO AND TERESA FURTADO JOÃO MANUEL DE OLIVEIRA 62 WORKSHOPS 8 Project Organization and Acknowledgments 34 The Bonnevillian blonde and the ghost that TERESA FURTADO refuses to forget: notes for an understanding JANE JIN KAISEN Introduction of performativity in queer multitudes 64 Intervention/Confrontation/Transformation ANNA LINDER JOANNA RYTELL LINE KARLSTROM 10 It’s a matter of not becoming tired at the 38 Joanna Rytell 70 The Naked Truth: On Gendered Bodies mere thought of all the work in Performance Art content KARIANNE STENSLAND 12 CONFERENCE 40 A Melody in Évora 72 EXHIBITION ANA GABRIELA MACEDO LILIBETH CUENCA 14 Women, Art and Power: Feminist matters 42 Staging Josephine Baker and Yves Klein… 74 ANE LAN in a global world JANE JIN KAISEN MANUELA CRISTÓVÃO ANE LAN 44 Intimate Photo/Videographic Images 75 AURORA REINHARD JOANNA RYTELL 20 Ane Lan MALIN ARNELL 76 KLARA LIDEN HIGH HEEL SISTERS 48 I didn’t do it for Nothing LOTTE KONOW LUND 24 High Heel Sisters SANNE KOFOD OLSEN 77 LILIBETH CUENCA 52 Feminist art in Denmark – a short PIRJETTA BRANDER JANE GILMOR introductory history 26 Backing Forwards: The 1976 All-American Glamour Kitty (runner-up) 78 HIGH HEEL SISTERS Finally Meets the High Heel Sisters TERESA FURTADO 56 Embodiments: a brief approach to 79 THE ICELANDIC LOVE CORPORATION Portuguese women video art JANE JIN KAISEN 6 32 Interview between my selves 7 af_mioloactoutdl2:Layout 1 12/14/10 3:49 PM Page 8 Project Organization and Acknowledgements Introduction Performance and video art are two important media, which how much harder it is for Portuguese artists to find support Act Out: Performative Video by Nordic Women Artists was a Nordic video art, and specifically high quality video art made emerged in the 1960’s and allowed women, until then from institutions, to project themselves into the public eye and project of the Centre of Art History and Artistic Investigation by Nordic women artists, is scarcely known in the Portuguese marginalized by the visual arts’ mainstream, to proclaim a promote their work, and how easier it is for Nordic artists to (CHAIA) of the University of Évora (UE). CHAIA researchers and cultural domain. This was one of the main reasons that drove place for themselves that could not be achieved through the manage to earn a living as professional artists. Nevertheless, teachers at the UE Department of Visual Arts and Design us to conceive ACT OUT as a discussion, interaction and western male dominated disciplines of painting and sculpture. Nordic artists cautioned the audience against the myth of (DAVD) Manuela Cristóvão, Artist and Auxiliar Professor, and presentation forum to inquire into today's women's Since then, women artists have created social and political equality in Nordic countries, stressing that there is still a long Teresa Furtado, Artist and Assistant Professor, were performative video art in Nordic countries, exploring such analyses of the structures of patriarchal culture. They have way to go before full gender equity is attained, and that artistic responsible for conceptualizing and organizing this event, issues as racial and gender identity, politics, and oppression. used video to explore their bodies, self and gendered identity, institutions, including private and public museum collections, which was part of the DAVD investigation line ‘Art and Society’ It should be noted that in choosing Performative Video by revealing the hidden discourses and ideologies behind them. continue to be dominated by decision-makers favouring male at CHAIA. This research aims to study the production of video Nordic Women Artists as the conference's title and main The study of contemporary Nordic women artists’ work is artists. The ongoing need to be vigilant about equal art by women video artists, its reception by the audience and theme, there was no intention to encapsulate the creative work indispensable for a proper and complete women's video art representation in the art world in Nordic countries, as well as in its contribution to art history. of Nordic women video artists inside a restrictive label by research, since their production embraces a wide variety of Portugal and in the USA, even if in varying degrees, was The project key associate was the curator and artist Anna attempting to characterize it within the bounds of a perfectly approaches, contexts and experiences and continues with the strongly emphasized. Linder from Filmform, an institution dedicated to the identified, well known and limited framework of common questioning of the social and political constructed nature of Secondly, it was interesting to note that the great majority of promotion, distribution and preservation of experimental film defining features. Asserting diverse women's identities and racial and gender identities in western societies, initiated in the artists present at the meeting don't think of themselves as and video in Sweden. The Nordic video art anthology Hit the productions, in this particular context, was not meant as a way 1970s. Nordic women artists practice in performative video feminists, possibly because they are not willing to identify with North, curated by Anna Linder and edited by Filmform, was one to establish universal feminine identity, interests, concerns, includes influential topics in contemporary art debate like what may be perceived by a segment of the general public as a of the inspiration sources for this project. approaches and creativity. The idea expressed in the main power, identity, family, gender roles, transvestism, war and synonym for organized politics by groups of irrational, angry The event was part of the programme of FIKE 2008 curated by theme of the conference was rather used as a «strategic post-colonialism. These issues are brought into their work women on a man-hate rampage, and even refuse to accept the João Paulo Macedo and organized by the non-profit essentialism» - Gayatri Spivak's concept indicating a political through a varied range of formal and conceptual strategies of occasionally associated designation "women artists", which is organizations Workers Society for Education and Recreation and temporary use of essentialism for the subversive purpose performative video art. understood as paternalistically charged and bestowing upon teresa furtado Joaquim António de Aguiar, UE Film Society and Mixreel. of creating or understanding a group self-consciousness: This project gathered artists, academics and students from the artists and their work a secondary and clearly minor status. | We would like to express our most sincere appreciation and essentializing the group brings forward a transitory and Denmark, Finland, Norway, Portugal, Sweden and the United Therefore, artists shy away from being labelled as feminists gratitude to our kind sponsors without whom this project would simplified group identity in order to be able to take action and States, who came together for the very first time to debate and/or women artists fearing this might contribute to exclude not have been possible, namely the Nordic Culture Fund, the achieve certain goals - and the conference itself as an attempt issues concerning Nordic women’s video and performance art. them from the artistic scene. Swedish, Norwegian, Danish and Finish Embassies in Portugal, to tackle the problem of the systematic exclusion of women The result was a very engaging, intense and positive Eventually everyone agreed that feminism continues