GENder Politics and the arts in algeria
I first sat down to chat with Amina Zoubir, an up-and-coming Algerian mixed-media artist, on a blustery late March afternoon in New York where we discussed the inspiration behind her latest film series titled Take Your Place (Prend ta place) and the responsibility she feels in representing Algeria to the wider world. Later, while on the move between Paris and Brussels, she shared her thoughts on art, religion and the growing pains of a region in a new era.
Amina supports the ideas of sociologist Fatima Oussedik, who stated that “a country that does not recognize women’s rights has no chance of creating democracy.” Amina uses her work to push gender norms in Algeria, where “male violence has been perpetuated by several factors such as the code de la famille, introduced in 1984, the rural exodus, lack of education…Sex education and civic rules are no longer taught in schools. In Algerian society, urban development is a kind of transformation based on a collective pain.” Amina says she hopes to portray the collective struggle of women in Algeria through her own story.
The properties of public space are recurring themes in Amina’s art, where she constantly experiments with the audience’s responses to her actions, whether standing in the midst of Manhattan’s Time Square in traditional Algerian dress, or donning a bride’s white veil in a Paris gallery opening. Intervening in public spaces is a common theme in the recent project by curator Yasmina Reggad, who presented the Spring 2013 ArteEast Virtual Gallery with Economy of Hope [working title] with the works of Algerian artists Amina Menia and Mohamed Bourouissa. Amina Zoubir is critical of the limitations of the Algerian contemporary art scene, stating that “the relationship to art is almost non-existent in Algerian society; there is a certain reluctance towards artwork that threatens traditions.”
“In my last exhibition at Hospice Saint Charles Art Center, I created a fragile piece of neon [light] in green, consisting of three parts of a sentence in Arabic that means ‘This is the time of happiness.’ I elaborate on [something] close to Economy of Hope,” said Amina. “[It] advocates the necessity, immediacy and urgency of happiness…It is a deliberate way to declare my will to imagine the possibility of different worlds.” This insistent optimism is apparent in much of Amina’s work, where bold colors contrast sensual female lines. “Hope is the inevitable result of [our] reason for life; without [it] we would be delivered into nothingness,” she added. “ [In the words of] philosopher Gilles Deleuze, ‘to create is to resist.’”
Amina’s six-film series Take your place, part of web documentary Un été à Alger, is comprised of ‘performative actions’ in which the artist has filmed herself and other women entering spaces intended for men only and engaging in acts normally associated with men, such as idly reading newspapers on the sidewalk, reign of thehittiste (those who lean on walls, or ‘hold up the walls’ out of boredom and lack of ambition). The films feature voice-over discussions with topics that range from a woman’s rightful role in the home to opinions on appropriate bathing attire. In one shot, Amina films herself asking for a blowout in a men’s hair salon. The barber uncomfortably accepts, and the men waiting in line barely meet her gaze. Another segment shows her in a crowded cafe amidst chatter of politics and football.
“I wanted to deconstruct the relationship between men and women, to demonstrate that we can live together in urban space: the exchange is possible with respect. With these performances, I wanted to encourage women to become more established in the urban space, for them to take their place.”
Born at Algiers in 1983, Amina Zoubir lives and works in Paris, France. She is a graduate of Master Theory and Practice of Contemporary Art and New Media at the University Paris 8, where she is currently a PhD candidate in Aesthetics, Science and Technology of Contemporary Art and Photography. She obtained a DESA in Graphic Design at the Academy of Fine Arts at Algiers in 2006.
By Clarissa Phar