EXHIBITIONS BY TWO COLLECTIVES
FRAUEN MACHEN DRUCK
Frauen porträtieren Frauen, die porträtieren.
SUE IMAGINER
El Imaginario Migrante
Location:
Parce Art Studio, Palinghuizen 78, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
Dates:
14 - 30 June 2024
Opened on thursdays to sundays from 9 a.m. - 7:30 p.m. Other days on appointment.
Special toast and guided tour on 14 June 2024 from 6-9 p.m.
Workshop on 15 June 2024 from 2 - 6 p.m.
FRAUEN MACHEN DRUCK is an open, self-organized and non-commercial printmaking workshop for people who identify as wom*n in the city of Berlin. The wom*n who participate come from different linguistic backgrounds, social classes, ages and hold different national and migratory status. It is a network of more than 100 wom*n. Frauen Machen Druck has had two exhibitions at the Käthe Kollwitz Museum, at Savvy Contemporary in Berlin and will exhibit as a participant in the Venice Biennale 2024.
At PARCE Art Studio, Frauen Machen Druck will show an exercise of encounter and recognition among the participants themselves. The portrait genre, which has been treated in different ways in the history of art, will be explored as a generator of enounters, that is to say, as an intermediary object for dialogues to emerge and to deepen the relationships between the participants. It will also be used to exercise drawing and develop graphic images of poetic and aesthetic quality.
The collection of portraits constitutes an installation that delves into the crossings and interactions that arise within the group when the women gather at the table to print, sharing both their similarities and their different realities. Inspired by Audre Lorde, this exercise promotes the political act of looking at the other and recognizing each other in her.
How do we define a portrait? What criteria discern a portrait as a "good"? Are we limited only to portraying faces, or can we expand this concept to other forms and possibilities? Is it possible to free ourselves from the pressure imposed by traditional photographic portraiture and explore the creation of images that reveal aspects perhaps less obvious to the naked eye? Is it possible that in portraying others, we are also reflecting aspects of ourselves?
If we review the history of art, we often encounter predefined examples of what constitutes a portrait, especially in photography and painting, which exert a strong influence on our perception and understanding of the genre. However, we can also find artists who have expanded the boundaries of traditional portraiture in a variety of media. On the other hand, we are used to the typical frontal portrait in passports, ID cards and residence permits. How can we escape from the coldness of these images? Does the portrait have to be frontal, serious and with ears uncovered, or can it be a fragment, a colorful stain or a metaphor? What objects or symbols can represent a person? Is it their gestures? How far can we dare in the portrait, especially when we capture the image of someone who expects to be reflected? The invitation is to explore all these possibilities, understanding that the portrait is a pretext to meet and connect.
SUE IMAGINER was born from the encounter of two Colombian artists, Marci Lorena Bayona, a photographer and visual artist, and Claudia Castillo, a plastic artist and art therapist, both residing in Brussels, Belgium. It emerged from mutual admiration and conversations between these two immigrants, who decided to collaborate on a project about migration using art as a means of transgression.
Their goal goes beyond aesthetics, aiming to offer a restorative message both for the viewers and for those who experience the process of migration.
The title of their work refers to an artistic investigation into migration. The imagination can be seen as a kind of "archive" where images, concepts, and emotions from their experiences of perceiving the world are stored and blended.
El Imaginario Migrante refers to the collective representation of a reality that is not necessarily objective, but socially constructed through culture and history. This exhibition is the RESULT of a blend of different imaginative qualities that the artists have nurtured through their personal stories. Naturally, the body and objects are part of the moving, transiting, and integrating spiral—an allegory for the phenomenon of migration through time and space. The collective extends their heartfelt gratitude to the Consulate of Colombia in Brussels, the program "Colombia Nos Une" and to each participant for making this project possible.
PROGRAM
Exhibitions FRAUEN MACHEN DRUCK and SUE IMAGINER
14 - 30 June 2024
Open on Thursdays to Sundays from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Opening
14 June 2024, 6-9 p.m.
Linoprint workshop
15 June from 2-6 p.m.
