Time: 19:00 - 22:00
Diotima Center and the Athens Development and Destination Management Agency – E.A.T.A. invite you to the opening of the photography exhibition “Her* visual field”, on Friday 24/11/2023, 7-10 pm at Circuits and Currents (Notara 13 & Tositsa, Exarchia).
The exhibition, held on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Gender-Based Violence, starts from the question: How can trauma be represented visually in ways that produce empowering narratives for the subjects? Two photographers, Alexandra Masmanidis and Vera Hotzoglou, explore the possibility of questioning the stereotypical depictions of experiences of gender-based violence, which are often presented through the gaze of the abuser.
As part of the exhibition, the event “Re-registering the gaze; attempting an empowering representation of trauma” will take place on Sunday 26/11, 6pm.
Photo Exhibition
free entrance
Opening: 24/11/2023, 7pm
Duration: 24-26/11/2023
Hours: Mon: 7-10 pm, Sat: 12-6 pm, Mon: 12-8.30 pm
Venue: Circuits and Currents, Notara 13 & Tositsa, Exarchia
Event
Discussion: 26/11/2023, 6pm
Speakers: Elena Tzelepi, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, University of Thessaly
Ioanna Zouli, Curator and Researcher, Center for New Media and Feminist Practices in the Public Space
Coordination:
Marianna Stefanitsi, Researcher, Diotima Center Communication Department
Curator’s note
Photographer Susan Meiselas having focused some of her work on women and femininities who have suffered gender violence points out “To mediate is to bring their voices forward, with their own deep knowledge”. In this context, she engages mediation through alternative, non-aestheticized images as an action that can be empowering, a process through which the voices and experiences of survivors can gain space and be heard.
In a similar vein, the photography exhibition ‘Her Visual* Field’ explores the possibility of questioning stereotypical depictions of gender violence by approaching photography, not simply as a representational medium but more as a means that can redefine the way discourse is produced about them issues. The photographers who were invited to create new works for the exhibition propose visual narratives that arise from stories of survival but also from their own personal experiences, giving space to reflections but also to different paths of empowerment.
Using scanning and collage techniques, as well as material from her personal archive, Alexandra Masmanidis composes new, almost surreal images that combine the human and natural elements and highlight circles of solidarity and frameworks of support on a path to visibility and hope .
In the visual installation “to make a home, to be home, to feel home”, Vera Chotzoglou negotiates the home as a constructed space of security or as a place that can sustain fear and insecurity. Through a composition of black and white and color images and an abstract soundscape, contrasts are formed that co-exist on difficult routes: calm with tension, faith with hesitation, light with shadow.
The action is implemented within the framework of the Action “Social Protection Network of Athens – Open Social Net”, which is co-financed by the EP. “ATTICA 2014-2020” and the European Social Fund (OPS code 5074888).
