POWER TO CHANGE! Strategies in Feminist and Human Rights Activism

gulabi

Helga Nyman
Joanna Rytel
Arne Skaug Olsen
Afrah Nasser
Steven Dixon
09.04 2013
Bergen Offentlige Bibliotek

Seminar at Bergen Public Library on feminist and human rights activism in art

Tuesday April 9th ::: Place: Bergen Public Library : free entrance

Program

10:00 Helga Nyman – Art and Feminist Activism. Transforming power structures?

11:00 Joanna Rytel – Presentation of previous works

11:45 Arne Skaug Olsen – presentation of “Contained Environment” and “Sex Workers Manifesto”. Re-thinking the working conditions of Norwegian sex workers

12:30 Lunch

13:15 Afrah Nasser – “Resistance to Women’s Political Participation is Futile”

14:00 Steven Dixon – “Rape Culture, Activism and Intellectual Intimidation”

15:00 Discussions

19:00 The documentary Gulabi Gang at Bergen Kino

Helga Nyman (b.1983) is an art historian with a special interest in architecture, contemporary art and feminist theory. Nyman studied at the University of Linköping in Sweden, and at the University in Bergen from where Nyman holds a MA in art history. Helga Nyman´s thesis took upon archive, storytelling and remembrance in contemporary art. Helga Nyman works at the Stavanger Art Museum and as a freelance curator. Based in Stavanger.

Joanna Rytel (b.1974) is a feminist artist working with performance, video, photography and text. Themes in Rytel´s practise includes sex, racism, abortion and male infertility. Joanna Rytel holds a MA in fine art from Konstfack in Sweden 2004. Rytel has exhibited extensively in Sweden, and also internationally. Based in Stockholm.

Arne Skaug Olsen (b.1974) is an artist, curator, art critic, writer and a publisher. Skaug Olsen writes for kunstkritikk.no, Camera Austria and Billedkunst, and is an editor of the publishing house Ctrl+Z Publishing. Arne Skaug Olsen is teaching regularly at the Bergen Academy of Art and Design, Oslo National Academy of the Arts, The Art Academy in Trondheim, and the Nordland Art and Film school. Based in Bergen.

Afrah Nasser (b.1985) is a freelance writer and blogger since 2010 focusing on women’s rights, democracy, and politics of Yemen. In April 2011, Nasser´s blog was featured as one of the 10 must-read blogs from the Middle East by CNN.com. Afrah Nasser has worked as a reporter for Yemen Observer newspaper 2008-2011, and the Swedish International Radio 2012 and currently works at Kvinna till Kvinna. Afrah Nasser has contributed to 2 books and co-founded the Yemeni Salon in Stockholm initiative. Nasser is a public speaker on Yemen’s affairs and regularly writes columns about Yemen for publications in Yemen, Sweden, UK, Kuwait, US and UAE. Based in Stockholm.

Dr. Steven Dixon (b.1954) is an artist and a writer. Dixon holds a Phd in philosophy and teaches theory at the Bergen Academy of Art and Design. Dixon´s interests lies within ideology in relation to art production, gender issues, feminism and new media. Based in Stockholm.

Gulabi Gang
In Bundelkhand, India, a revolution is in the making among the poorest of the poor, as Sampat Pal and the fiery women of her Gulabi Gang empower themselves and take up the fight against gender violence, caste oppression and widespread corruption. Enter the badlands of Bundelkhand and you have entered a place of desolation, dust and despair. And yet it is hope that we discover as we follow the pink sari-clad women of Gulabi Gang. These women travel long distances by cart and tractor, bus and train, to wrest justice for women and Dalits, undeterred by sneering policemen and condescending bureaucrats. Sampat Pal, their leader, is a rough-and-tough woman with a commanding personality. Despite her lack of education she has evolved her own brand of feminism and egalitarian politics. Her strength lies in her words. She is constantly on the move – today investigating a young woman’s suspicious death, tomorrow protesting against a corrupt official. The gang encounters resistance everywhere – whole villages connive in protecting the perpetrators of violence. As the film pulls us into the centre of these blazing conflicts, it uncovers a complex story, disturbing yet heartening.

We are launching the project 100år! For many Norway is the symbol of a privileged reality in which human rights and the right to vote is a given. But even in one of the most egalitarian societies in the world we have still not reached the goal of gender equality. For many Norwegians the word feminism is a four letter word. 100år! is a parade of exhibitions, events, seminars and workshops spanning all of 2013. It has taken more than 2000 years to build the concept of human rights and dignity. We want to celebrate the historical effort leading up to universal voting rights. 100år! has a critical focus on our times and how the right to control one’s personal life is still worth fighting for. Through art we seek to promote and encourage a diverse set of voices to be heard and to add new perspectives to issues such as the right to vote, equality, activism, power and representation.

The initiators of 100år! are Maya Økland and Hilde Jørgensen, Artists and Managers of KNIPSU, Malin Barth Art Historian, Curator and Director of Gallery 3,14, Helga Nyman Art Historian and Curator and Heidi Nikolaisen Artist and Assistant Professor of Photography at Bergen National Academy of Art and Design. The key feature is collaboration as process, which enables a diverse and complex program with a wide and mixed approach. The group wants to allow different traditions and discourses to meet and exist – side by side – in a polyphonous expression.

Have a further look at our website www.hundreaar.no where we regularly will publish texts from artists, writers and thinkers throughout the year.

100år! is supported by Bergen City, the Norwegian Arts Council, the Freedom of Expression Foundation, Oslo (Fritt Ord), and the Bergen Academy of Art and Design.

Press contact: Heidi Nikolaisen, KHiB: heidi.nikolaisen@khib.no Phone: +4745421116

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NORSK

POWER TO CHANGE! Strategies in Feminist and Human Rights Activism

Tirsdag 9. april kl 10 – 16
Sted: Bergen Offentlige Bibliotek

Program
10:00 Helga Nyman, Art and Feminist Activism. Transforming power structures?
11:00 Joanna Rytel – billedkunstner, presentasjon av egne arbeider
11:45 Arne Skaug Olsen – presentasjon av Contained Environment og Sex Workers Manifesto. – prosjektet tar opp sexarbeideres arbeidsvilkår og fremsetter en modell for å bedre disse.
12:30 lunsj
13:15 Afrah Nasser, “Resistance to Women’s Political Participation is Futile”
14:00 Steven Dixon, “Rape Culture, Activism and Intellectual Intimidation”
15:00 Dialog og diskusjon

19:00 Filmen Gulabi Gang på Bergen Kino (KP4)

Helga Nyman (f.1983) er kunsthistoriker med faglige interesser innen arkitektur, samtidskunst og feministisk teori. Hin har studert ved Linköpings universitet og Universitetet i Bergen, og har en mastergrad i kunsthistorie, med spesialisering i samtidskunst – om arkiv, historiefortelling og erindring i kunsten. Helga Nyman arbeider som formidlingskonsulent ved Stavanger kunstmuseum.

Joanna Rytel (f.1974) er billedkunstner. Hin arbeider med performance, video, fotografi og tekst. Arbeidene er uttalt feministiske og omhandler blant annet sex, rasisme, abort og mannlig infertilitet. Joanna Rytel har en MA i kunst fra Konstfack i Stockholm 2004. Hin har stilt ut nasjonalt og internasjonalt. Bor og arbeider i Stockholm.

Arne Skaug Olsen (f.1974) er billedkunstner, kurator, skribent og forlegger, bosatt i Bergen. Hin skriver for kunstkritikk.no, Camera Austria og Billedkunst og er redaktør i forlaget Ctrl+Z Publishing. Arne Skaug Olsen har også undervist regelmessig ved Kunst- og designshøgskolen i Bergen, Kunsthøgskolen i Oslo, Kunstakademiet i Tromsø og Nordland kunst- og filmfagskole.

Afrah Nasser (f.1985) er blogger, journalist og forfatter som rapporterer om kvinners rettigheter, demokrati og politikk i Yemen. Nasser har gjennom sin offentlige kritikk av president Saleh blitt møtt med motstand og trusler. Hin bor nå i selvvalgt eksil i Sverige. Afrah Nassers blogg ble nylig anbefalt av CNN som en av de 10 viktigste bloggene fra Midt-Østen.

Dr. Steven Dixon (f.1954), bor og jobber i Stockholm. Er førsteamanuensis i teori ved avdeling for Kunst på KHiB. Innehar en PHD i filosofi og er virksom som forfatter og kunstner. Steven Dixon interesserer seg for ideologi i forhold til kunstproduksjon, kjønnsproblematikk, feminisme og nye media.

Gulabi Gang
Kvinnene i Uttar Pradesh i India lengter etter rettferdighet og respekt. Hverdagen preges av trusler og vold. Drap forekommer jevnlig, og mennene som utfører udådene kommer unna med det igjen og igjen. Kvinnene ønsker forandring, men hver for seg har de ingen sjanse i det mannsdominerte samfunnet. Likevel finnes det håp: Den karismatiske Sampat Pal har dannet Gulabi Gang (Den rosa gjengen), og uniformert i rosa sarier og utstyrt med matchende stokker hamler Gulabi Gang opp med voldelige ektemenn og korrupte politimenn, politikere og dommere. Gulabi Gang slåss for sine medsøstre. Den norske dokumentarfilmen Gulabi Gang er en moderne, feministisk David mot Goliat-historie. Det som startet med organiseringen av en håndfull sinte kvinner har vokst til en bevegelse på mer enn 150.000 rosakledte som kjemper kvinnenes kamp.

100år! går inn for å feire Stemmerettsjubileet 2013 og består av Maya Økland og Hilde Jørgensen, kunstnere og innehavere av KNIPSU, Malin Barth kunsthistoriker, kurator og direktør for Galleri 3,14, Helga Nyman kunsthistoriker og formidler og Heidi Nikolaisen kunstner og høgskolelektor i fotografi ved Kunst- og designhøgskolen i Bergen.

www.hundreaar.no

100år! er støttet av Bergen kommune, Norsk Kulturråd, Fritt Ord og Kunst- og designhøgskolen i Bergen

Pressekontakt: Heidi Nikolaisen, KHiB: heidi.nikolaisen@khib.no TLF: 45421116