Doing Deculturalization is inspired by the writings of the Italian art historian and critic Carla Lonzi (1931–1982).
In particular, it focuses on using her concept of deculturalization, a way of (culturally) decoding life, labor and language, as a prerequisite for an antiregulatory and decolonial vision of gender and migration. The processes of withdrawal and alienation connected to this concept are highlighted both in reference to their historical feminist context and in possible ways of applying them to the present. So, the project is basically asking, to what extent can “deculturalization” processes liberate forms of empowerment and resistance.
In other words, how can they develop a critique of the colonializing power structures? Against the backdrop of this question, the exhibition creates a speculative scenario, a topography of associations between archive material from feminist movements and contemporary and historic artistic positions with a particular focus on material from the Archivio di Nuova Scrittura in the Museion Collection.
Further examination of the topics covered in Doing Deculturalization is offered by the exhibition Il soggetto imprevisto. 1978 Arte e Femminismo in Italia, on show at the FM Centre for Contemporary Art in Milan (04/04-26/05/2019), dedicated to the relationship between visual arts and feminism in Italy.
Artists e archives
Carla Accardi , Zehra Arslan, Marion Baruch, Moyra Davey, Bracha L. Ettinger, Claire Fontaine, Chiara Fumai, Nadira Husain, Sonia Khurana, Ketty La Rocca, Beatrice Marchi, Margherita Morgantin, Ariane MĂĽller, Raffaela Naldi Rossano, Rosa Panaro, Gina Pane, Marinella Pirelli, Carol Rama, Cloti Ricciardi, Suzanne Santoro, Katarina Zdjelar.
Archivio di Nuova Scrittura – Collezione Paolo Della Grazia, MUSEION Bolzano/Bozen and Mart, Museo di arte moderna e contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto
Amelia Etlinger, Carla Accardi, Giovanna Sandri, Irma Blank, Lucia Marcucci, Giulia Niccolai, Mirella Bentivoglio, Marilla Battilana, Grögerová Bohumila, Tomaso Binga, Elisabetta Gut, Anna Oberto, Liliana Landi, Sveva Lanza, Ketty La Rocca, Francoise Janicot, Nanda Vigo, Lenora De Barros, Raffaella Formenti, Berty Skuber.
Donazione Mirella Bentivoglio – Mart, Museo di arte moderna e contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto
Annalisa Alloatti, Marilla Battilana, Mirella Bentivoglio, Tomaso Binga, Paula Claire, Hanne Darboven, Betty Danon, Neide Dias de Sá, Amelia Etlinger, Maria Ferrero Gussago, Kiki Franceschi, Elisabetta Gut, Ana Hatherly, Ketty La Rocca, Maria Lai, Sveva Lanza, Lucia Marcucci, Anna Oberto, Giovanna Sandri, Mira Schendel, Greta Schödl, Berty Skuber, Simona Weller; libri d’artista (di Annalies Klophaus, Agnes Denes, Katalin Ladik, Irma Blank, Simona Weller, Ana Hatherly et al.), materiale d’archivio
Fondo Suzanne Santoro, ARCHIVIA Archivi Biblioteche Centri Documentazione delle Donne, Roma
Archival records
Archivio Carla Lonzi, Galleria nazionale d’arte moderna e contemporanea di Roma
Archival records
Doing Deculturalization
ExhibitionCurated by Ilse Lafer, guest curator 2019 at Museion
In collaboration with: Sabeth Buchmann (congress/workshop), Frida Carazzato, Francesca Lacatena (curatorial advisors), Lukas Maria Kaufmann (exhibition design), Brigitte Unterhofer e team (exhibition organization and production).