prologue: Transitional Geographies / Feminist Mapping at ISEA

The Prologue Panel will take place during ISEA on: Friday, 28 August 2009 at 14:00 at the Main Hub: Waterfront Hall, Belfast, Lanyon Place.

The Prologue Surgery will take place at: Golden Thread Gallery at 14:00.

The panel [Prologue]: Transitional Geographies / Feminist Mapping explores the cultural and political impact of European enlargement on feminist art and discourse: feminist participation in the cultural, economic, technological and structural spheres of a changing Europe remains a challenge. This panel aims to map out the crucial issues of how and where feminism remains a radical innovator in art, technology and society and to make public contemporary feminist art and discourse. The panelists - media artists, theorists and sociologists - are invited to reflect on the impact of shifting European borders and interests. This is extended to how feminist work addresses these changes.

The huge paradigm shift of the late 80's has had a huge impact on the notion of what it means to be European - and feminists have been active at each step. Current economic and political shifts constitute yet another huge paradigm shift and feminists are more engaged than ever. An interdisciplinary approach combines old and new media, sociological research, theory and art from a feminist perspective. Following a summer academy that brings the panel participants together with numerous artists, activists, critics and theorists to address the challenges presented by shifting geographic spaces and their real economic and political impact, the panel will focus on the status of a project to map feminist discourse and practice within (and without) European borders. As Action Research, the panel is derived from a series of [Prologue]: New Feminism/New Europe events that will take place in Tallinn over 2009 and 2010 with the title Prologue_EST, and past events in Berlin, Graz and Manchester.

Theinvited panelists comprise professional media artists, theorists and curators active in East and West Europe. They each bring a wealth of professional experience that extends across Europe and beyond.

- ART ECONOMY POLICY -

[Prologue]: New Feminism/New Europe resulted from a series of formal and informal discussions about the need to reclaim the radical elements of feminist movement and to re-articulate a feminist perspective in terms of East and West Europe. Past Prologue events have focused on themes such as transgender, language of resistance, witty works, and open source software. Participants have been from Albania, Austria, Estonia, Hungary, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Poland and the UK. By combining works once disregarded by historical blind spots and emerging artists, Prologue has worked across borders, genres and generations. As such, Prologue refers to setting the stage for future action. An abundance of feminist art exhibitions across North America and Europe have affirmed the historical importance of feminist art, however, mainstream media art discussions still question the relevance of gender in art and media. [Prologue]: Transitional Geographies / Feminist Mapping embraces the future: not only is feminist work valuable, it is more important than ever.

[Prologue]: Transitional Geographies / Feminist Mapping is organized by Kathy Rae Huffman, Diana McCarty, Mare Tralla and Reet Varblane.