October 23, 2020–January 17, 2021
If I Can’t Dance, I Don’t Want To Be Part Of Your Revolution is pleased to announce the inaugural activities of its Edition VIII – Ritual and Display final programme, which presents over roughly six months the artists and researchers with whom If I Can’t Dance has worked over the last two years. From fall 2020 to spring 2021 Derrais Carter, Pauline Curnier Jardin, Sara Giannini, MPA, Sands Murray-Wassink and Lisa Robertson will present their projects through a number of different channels, ranging from the theatre stage to the radio broadcast to the exhibition wall.
Mythologies/Methodologies. Approaching Feminist Collectivities of the 1970s and 1980s
Kicking off this lively schedule of activities, the Mythologies/Methodologies series aims to expand on the thinking around feminist collective strategies and histories, which our Edition VIII – Ritual and Display Research Fellow Giulia Damiani has shared with us over the past two years. Accordingly, this four-part livestream series explores the legacies of feminist collectives across different (psycho)-geographies with presentations by Damiani in dialogue with Genevieve Hyacinthe on ritualistic action and the Neapolitan group Le Nemesiache; Ros Murray who speaks on the film and video activism of Les Muses s’amusent (The Muses have Fun), a collective formed formed by Carole Roussopoulos, Delphine Seyrig, Ioana Wieder and others in Paris; and Chandra Frank joined by Gloria Wekker in a discussion about the legacies of the black feminist lesbian collective Sister Outsider, co-founded in Amsterdam by Wekker, Tania Leon, José Maas and Tieneke Sumter. Moving between audio-visual essays, lectures and conversations, the event also includes a streaming of the documentary film Delphine et Carole, insoumuses (2019) by Callisto McNulty and a closing roundtable between participants on performance-based research methodologies.
From the Volcano to the Sea. The Feminist Group Le Nemesiache in 1970s and 1980s Naples
In conjunction with the Mythologies/Methodologies series, we present an exhibition curated by Giulia Damiani on the Italian feminist collective Le Nemesiache, active in Naples in the 1970s and 1980s. Founded by philosopher, artist and writer Lina Mangiacapre in 1970, Le Nemesiache was an open group of exclusively female participants. Together, they constructed a “different daily life,” reclaiming mythology as an embodied practice of feminist transformation. For the first time the group’s archive is presented in an exhibition that dwells upon their expansive work across film, performance and activism. Purposefully blurring the lines between art and politics, their ritualistic practices were strongly embedded in the natural and supernatural landscape of Naples, from its volcanic fumes to its archaeological ruins. The audience is invited into Le Nemesiache’s world through original documents and photographs, poetry, films, collages, costumes and textiles.
Visiting information
Livestream series
Saturdays, October 24–November 14, registration required
Full programme
Exhibition
Visiting address: Rongwrong, Binnen Bantammerstraat 2, 1011 CK Amsterdam
Opening weekend: October 23, 25, 2–7:30pm; registration required
Regular opening hours: Friday–Saturday 2–6pm; after-work Thursdays with If I Can’t Dance 5–7pm, free entry
From the Volcano to the Sea. The Feminist Group Le Nemesiache in 1970s and 1980s Naples is curated by Giulia Damiani in dialogue with Sara Giannini (Curator, If I Can’t Dance) and Arnisa Zeqo (Artistic Director, Rongwrong). Exhibition design by Maud Vervenne. Special thanks to Le Nemesiache.
Mythologies/Methodologies. Approaching Feminist Collectivities of the 1970s and 1980s is organized by the If I Can’t Dance curatorial team (Frédérique Bergholtz, Sara Giannini and Megan Hoetger) and is realized in partnership with the Amsterdam School for Heritage, Memory and Material Culture, University of Amsterdam. Livestream concept and realization by Lukas Heistinger with camera work by Temra Pavlovic and Eoghan Ryan. Livestream audience moderation by Amalia Calderon and Noami Collier Broms. Special thanks to Centre Audiovisuel Simone de Beauvoir.
If I Can’t Dance receives structural support from the Mondriaan Fund and the AFK (Amsterdam Fund for the Arts) and project support from the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds.
