Tainted Histories
Screening Tabita Rezaire
On April 29, Creative Coding Utrecht and IMPAKT present the screening of Same Sex Biz and Sugar Walls Teardom by Tabita Rezaire. The video works guide us through cyberspace, showing how it forms a space of connection and healing as well as one of institutionalized exploitation and exclusion. In this event, we will discuss the complex politics and histories of technology in conversation with Camille Barton. As an interdisciplinary artist, educator and embodiment researcher, Camille uses afrofuturism to imagine creative interventions towards systemic change.
How are structures of racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, classism, colonialism and the exploitation of natural resources (re)produced in online environments and technology? How can we practice care and healing in cyberspace?
Guided by Rezaire’s work, this event traces connections between technologies, bodies, communities and ecologies. We will discuss questions such as: How has the development of technology been marked by structures of exclusion and exploitation? How can we unlearn dominant binary, Western-centric and exclusionary ways of thinking about bodies, identities and technologies? How can cyberspace be used for education and healing?
Our speaker Camille Barton is the head of Ecologies of Transformation (2021 – 2023), a temporary masters programme at Sandberg Institute. In their work, Barton is invested in breaking down the mind body separation that is dominant in Western paradigms in order to create more space for flexible thinking, holistic healing and bridging across differences.
The event will be hosted by Rosa Wevers. She is PhD candidate in Gender studies at Utrecht University. Currently, she investigates art exhibitions and artistic practices that critically respond to surveillance, and shape tactics of resisting control. Previously, Rosa worked as the project coordinator of MOED (Museum of Equality and Difference). Rosa is the co-host and co-producer of Kunstmatig, a podcast on the intersections of art and technology.
Also check out the festival’s Facebook event page here
Read more about Tabita Rezaire: Symbiose Immaculée, opening soon at IMPAKT and the Centraal Museum.
Read more about Tabita Rezaire: Symbiose Immaculée here
During the event Tabita Rezaire: An introduction we launched the online exhibition Tabita Rezaire: Symbiose Immaculée. The online exhibition includes Sorry for Real. In Sorry for Real (2015, 17 min) ‘the Western world’ apologises for the violent history of slavery, colonialism and the continuing exploitation of African people and resources. We see a smartphone chat in which ‘the West’ asks for forgiveness. But what purpose does an apology serve? Who benefits from it? Which power structures are concealed behind it?
Visit the online exhibition here
In the context of this exhibition IMPAKT and Centraal Museum organise a series of public events online:
Tabita Rezaire: An Introduction
Screening and conversation on the colonial nature of technology. Rewatch the event here:
Rewatch Tabita Rezaire an introduction here
Tainted Histories is part of the programme of the online festival Rainbows End (22 april – 2 may 2021), organised by Creative Coding Utrecht (CCU). This multi-sensory art manifestation is exploring the boundaries of reality, intimacy and play, with a diverse range of activities. The 11-day festival is an immersion into new realities, with talk shows, screenings, performances, workshops, and an online art exhibition. Expect to be hacking sex toys, discussing the importance of safe digital spaces, and the impact of complex politics and histories of technology, as well as many other topics.
More info here