LaPublika focuses particularly on representation mechanisms. In a society presided by the triumph of images, they are not limited to showing spaces, subjects or situations, but also involve a point of view (how and why we look) and a division of roles (who looks and who, on the contrary, is the object others look at). The Swedish filmmaker Petra Bauer suggests that cinema, photography and visual arts in general are not only visual representation tools, but also political negotiation tools.
In the workshop the group will watch films and videos together, discuss their politics and specifically address the intersection between aesthetics and politics: how we through art or film projects can engage with, as well as challenge contemporary social and political events and processes. There are two aspects to this: on the one hand, political commitment on a content level; on the other, whether and how the artwork or the film can be considered to be political acts in themselves. For a longer time Petra Bauer have been inspired by feminist theory and practice which stress the dialectical relations between larger political structures and the organisation of every day life. She is particularly interested in how this double movement can be visualised in visual art. She explores these themes by using feminist strategies and theories that critically focus on and politicize conditions of productions, authorship, narrative structures, and the choice of aesthetic strategies. On a content level, several of her works focus on how women have chosen to collectively self-organise themselves, both within art and society at large, in order to change political and social structures as well as everyday life and individual practices.
In addition to the workshop, Petra Bauer will give a lecture on Thursday, November 26th at 6:00pm. Free entrance.
The Swedish filmmaker Petra Bauer suggests that cinema, photography and visual arts in general are not only visual representation tools, but also political negotiation tools.