Please note that this screen reader text may contain sensitive topics such as gender based violence and may not be suitable for children.
Numbers for each work correspond with the numbers on the gallery map available at the front desk.
Moving forward into the gallery, the first thing you will approach is the curatorial text.
“for the sake of dancing in the street” is written in lowercase sans serif font on the left against a pink wall with a purple hue. To the right of the purple wall is a white wall with the following text in a sans-serif font.
This is the beginning of the curatorial text.
“What tools are adequate to confront the forceful patriarchal power structures that continue to control femme and nonbinary bodies every day, across the world? Do we fight power with more power? Or can we dance our way towards revolution?
These questions inform the movements that are documented, amplified, and called into existence through the works in these rooms. Movements that use movement as a liberatory practice emerge as a through-line between public and private space, and articulate the inseparability of individual battles for personal freedoms from collective struggles for justice and bodily autonomy. These movements use disruption, joy and irreverence as critical tactics, along the way reclaiming sensuality and questioning the limits of cultural approval.
For the sake of dancing in the street invites us to witness and wonder what is possible when bodies that have been subject to control transform themselves into tools of resistance and empowerment. The body is centered as a site of simultaneous realities; from powerful and gentle, to humiliated and resilient, both subject and object, yet neither strictly feminine nor masculine. Through forceful collective presence and potent, but often private, individual action, these works explore the potential to invoke change and destabilize existing patriarchal power structures around the world.
Although these artists’ works emerge from various geographical and cultural contexts, the layers of their influence reverberate back and forth. Histories, chants, and safety tactics get shared through zines, online, through apps, through whispers and shouts. These works celebrate the interconnectedness of feminist and queer resistance across time and space. Their shared aims towards liberation, bodily autonomy, and reframing oppressive histories and structures, form an intertwining constellation and create new lineages of possibility.”
This is the end of the curatorial text.
Next to the curatorial text is a list of the artists involved. The artists involved are: LASTESIS, Morehshin Allahyari, Yasmine Nasser Diaz, Ava Ansari, Caitlin Abadir-Mullally, Entangled Roots Press, Geochicas, and Raja Bella Hicks.
Lastly on this wall are the acknowledgements.
“This exhibition and associated programming were collectively organized by OXY ARTS, Los Angeles Nomadic Division (LAND), and Yasmine Nasser Diaz.”
“Exhibition and programming made possible with generous support from the Mellon Foundation, the Mike Kelley Foundation for the Arts and the Wilhelm Family Foundation.”
This is the last of the text on this wall.
Then, moving clockwise in the gallery you will approach the first work in the gallery.
The curatorial text reads:
1. “LASTESIS, un violador en tu camino:
aproximación a una cartografía, 2023
Courtesy of the artists”
This is an hour long video depicting protestors in various cities uniting under the popular feminist protest chant “un violador en tu camino”. This chant is being shouted by protestors as they march and perform the choreography associated with the chant. Many protestors cover their eyes with scarves, black blindfolds, and green bandanas. This chant was written by LASTESIS and they developed the choreography that includes pointing towards landmarks such as city halls, government buildings, and police officers. The video includes close ups, aerial views, and perspectives from the crowds during these demonstrations.
The first lines of the chant reads as follows in Spanish:
Un violador en tu camino, el patriarcado es un juez, que nos juzga por nacer, y nuestro castigo, es la violencia que no ves.
This is the English translation:
A rapist in your path
The patriarchy is a judge, that judges us for being born. And as women we are punished by the violence you don’t see. The patriarchy is a judge, that judges us for being born. And as women we are punished by the violence we have seen.
The full chant is available in Spanish and English upon request. Please for assistance at the front desk or email us at oxyarts@oxy.edu.
To the right of un violador en tu camino: aproximación a una cartografía, there is a floating shelf with two stacks of prints.
The curatorial text reads:
2. "Entangled Roots Press, Risograph Takeaway Prints, 2023
Commissioned on the occasion of the exhibition"
An additional wall label reads:
"Entangled Roots Press pulls from ancestral herstories and pushes towards liberatory futures with their prints. These prints are free for you to take into the world with you. If you are inspired, you can scan the QR code for a list of suggested organizations where you can make a donation."
If you would like the list of organizations, please inquire at the front desk or email us.
The first print on the left has a white background with black text. There is a graphic of crossed arms, in orange-ish yellow, in the center. To the left and right, hands, also in orange-yellow, are raised. There are small orange-yellow dots in a line at the ends of the arms. This graphic is repeated in the top and bottom half of the print. There are two columns of text, the left side is the “un violador en tu camino” chant and choreography in Spanish, and the right side is the chant and choreography translated in English. The full text in Spanish and English is available upon request but was referenced earlier in this screen reader document. Please ask for assistance at the front desk or email us at oxyarts@oxy.edu.
The second print (the stack on the right) has a white background with a lace pattern in the same orange-yellow color. There are twelve solid orange-yellow circles repeated throughout the pattern. In each of these circles, arms and hands are crossed at the wrist oriented upward, in a neon pink. There are small neon pink dots in a line at the ends of the arms. In the center, in lower case font reads:
for the sake
of dancing
in the
street
3. Geochicas Map
If you turn to the right from the Entangled Roots prints, there is a TV screen with an interactive Google map on it from Geochicas. The frame of the screen is black and the map is blue and white. The blue represents water while the white represents countries in the world. There are purple dots in places where the chant was used. There are headphones at the bottom of the TV so users can listen to any audio links that come up. Some of these links are broken due to unstable internet platforms.
The wall label reads:
"GeoChicas, an international women's mapping community, was founded in 2016 with the aim to address structural issues in data + mapping due to the lack of female participation and project leadership. By promoting work that analyzes how women are represented in geospatial and technological spaces, they use crowdsourcing and draw on the skills of their members in 12 different countries to improve the quality of open source mapping projects.
In 2019 they created this interactive map showing cities where LASTESIS' Un violador en tu camino has been performed. Using the interactive touch screen, tap on a pin to learn more about where and when each performance took place. This project is the joint work of GeoChicas and the Feminist International, coordinated by Isaura Fabra."
4. Documentation and archival materials of global feminist movements
The curatorial text reads:
"Documentation and archival research conducted by Oxy student Raja Bella Hicks, under the supervision of archivist Caitlin Abadir-Mullally. This project was funded by the Mellon Arts + Tech grant. Design by Tiffanie Tran."
To the right of the Geochicas map is a wall display that spans the same wall and the entire adjacent wall with a few dozen vinyls depicting and mapping feminist movements across the world in a non-linear web of connections, including Vaparaíso, Los Angeles, New York, Mexico City, New York, Toronto, Puyo, Buenos Aires, Berlin, Rojava, Tunis, Istanbul, Ankara, Johannesburg, Southeast Nigeria, Nairobi, Yerevan, Ramallah, Santiago, Saqqez, Tehran, Kabul, Bishkek, New Delhi, and Kathmandu. Each location is shown with an image and caption. Some vinyls have red stickers to indicate demonstrations of the LASTESIS anthem, un violador en tu camino. Most vinyls are connected by gradient dots in purple, pink, and red.
From left to right, there are three iPads. The iPad on the far left plays a video from Canada titled “Performance for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women”. The iPad in the center plays a video from Johannesburg titled “Vap dancers Vs Real Action (Club Controller Dance Video)”. The iPad on the far right is labeled Tehran and displays the album “VA - WOMAN, LIFE, FREEDOM” by Apranik Records on their Bandcamp page with 12 song selections. These all have headphones to listen to the content. The iPad from Tehran requires people to press play to listen to audio.
There are pictures for each city as well as short blurbs about each of them. Some of them include QR codes to videos, article links, and other documentation of their respective feminist movement.
Full text for the wall is available upon request. Please ask for assistance at the front desk or email us at oxyarts@oxy.edu.
5. Zoba’ah (زوبعة): The Whirlwind, 2022 - 2023
6. The Queer Withdrawings, 2021
Moving through the doorway into the large gallery, the next work is Zoba’ah and The Queer Withdrawings, which is displayed on the right wall adjacent to the doorway.
The curatorial text reads:
"Morehshin Allahyari Zoba’ah (زوبعة): The Whirlwind, 2022 - 2023
Virtual Sculpture and AR
This work was commissioned and is in the inquiry of the Museum for Samtidskunst, Denmark
Morehshin Allahyari
The Queer Withdrawings, 2021
Site-specific installation
Courtesy of the artist and Management Gallery
Scan the QR code on the floor to download Zoba’ah (زوبعة): The Whirlwind. Click on TRY AR to get started."
The wall is covered in shiny silver vinyls depicting outlines of various anthropomorphic, mythological figures including: a serpent-like form with a human face and long hair wearing a crown; a procession of six figures walking on two legs with various animal faces including an elephant-like head; a chimera-like figure with a long tail, human head, and six animal heads. Many figures are depicted with various genitalia. There are also vinyls of writings, symbols, and marks. Interspersed throughout the wall are circular mirrors of various sizes, in and around the figures. In the center of the wall is a large monitor depicting Zoba’ah, a floating 3-dimensional jinn rotating slowly in a sitting position against a black background. The jinn is illustrated in solid black with golden hoops, bangles, arm bands, and necklace adornments. Its face features a prominent nose, white eyes, and two long white tusks. On top of its head rests a smaller head with two silver horns. Between these two heads, there is a gold, two-headed horned serpent-like creature wrapped around the neck so that the two serpent heads face each other. The necklace has a zig zag design and a spade shaped pendant. The torso is smooth with a protruding chest. The waist has a waistband with loose, flowing pants. It is sitting cross-legged with one hand in its lap and one hand on its chest.
On the floor below the monitor is a large QR code surrounded by Allaharyi’s markings. Upon scanning the QR code in a smartphone camera, an AR version of Zoba’ah appears in the gallery space. Visitors are able to adjust the size of the AR sculpture and move it around the space.
7. For Your Eyes Only
Installation by Yasmine Nasser Diaz
Behind the previous work and to the left is a large installation depicting a bedroom.
The curatorial text reads:
“Yasmine Nasser Diaz
For Your Eyes Only, 2021 - 2023
Site-specific installation, 2 channel video, 10 min 12 seconds
Audio composition by Carol Abi Ghanem
Courtesy of the artist and OCHI
You're welcome to walk through the installation and sit on the cushions and bed, but please do not touch anything."
The bedroom’s walls are covered in a geometric 8-point rosette pattern frequently used in Islamic design that is light and dark pink in color, there is a projected video of an assortment of women, queer, gender-expansive people dancing, smoking, or showing off their outfits on TikTok and Instagram. This video is in connection to the music playing in the gallery. On the wall to the left, there is a pink and blue neon sign in the shape of an 'evil eye' next to a disco ball which spins and refracts light into the space.
On the floor, there is wood stripping that frames a purplish pink carpet that is a similar color to the curatorial wall. On it is a small carpet that sits at the foot of a twin sized bed. This bed is on the far right of the installation with a floral purple and green comforter. At the head of the bed are two pillows. To the left of the bed is a white nightstand with a white lamp, an amber colored glass cup, and a pink, blue hibiscus flowered eye mask. On the bed stand is a pale pink cloth with Mona Eltahawy’s book “The Seven Necessary Sins for Women and Girls”.
On the floor near this nightstand is a sparkled tank top, a gold clutch, and Mona Eltahawy’s book “Headscarves and Hymens: Why the Middle East Needs a Sexual Revolution”. There is an additional nightstand with a brown and yellow cloth draped over it. On top of it is a small hookah pipe and a stack of books. The books are as follows from top to bottom.
Sanam Maher’s “The Sensational Life and Death of Qandeel Baloch”,
Randa Jarrar’s “Love is an Ex-Country”,
Marjane Satrapi’s “The Complete Persepolis”,
Saleem Haddad’s “Guapa”,
Zaina Arafat’s “You exist too much”
To the right of the nightstand with the books and in the corner of the room is a brown woven hamper. It has a pink and black cheetah print cloth on top as well as a t-shirt hanging out of its opening that reads “Free Palestine”. The “Free Palestine” shirt has an embroidered image of a hand holding a red rose.
Next to the hamper and on the wall next to it is a big wooden dresser. This dresser has two shelved and four knobs. On the leftmost and top most knob is a face mask with a red and white pattern. On top of the dresser are purple fairy lights and various items. From left to right and top to bottom these are the items on the dresser: a picture frame of four older ladies, a jar of red stone incense, a gold and jeweled ring, a bowl of cotton balls, a cartoon from Persepolis of three women in hijabs but the center girl is wearing a jacket that says “punk is not ded”, a cup of bobby pins, a cup with makeup products, a print with a bed background and a black and white drawing of a woman that says “hshouma, corps et sexualité au maroc”, hair mousse, a mini globe, a bangle, a purple jar with a gold lid, roll on city girl perfume, two Frida Kahlo earrings, hemani black seed oil, glitter nail polish, a platter of makeup products including more nail polish, eyelashes, and eyeshadow, Nawal El Saadawi’s book “The Hidden Face of Eve: Women in the Arab World”, a blue evil eye pendant on top of the book, an iPhone 5s, and a blue spiky hairbrush. All of the items are sitting on top of a multicolored striped cloth.
To the left of the dresser on the floor is an assortment of protest gear. Moving left to right and top to bottom there is a red first aid kit, Always brand menstrual pads, a green metal water bottle with a sticker on it, a silver backpack, an ACLU “Know Your Rights” pamphlet. Purell hand sanitizer, eye goggles, and a silver megaphone.
In the center of the corner installation is a Toshiba analog TV with a video playing on it and two floor cushions. The TV is on a brown wooden stand. This video is playing in correlation to the projected video on the wall above the bed. As the clips change, we see protestors speaking out about women’s rights. Most clips address specifically issues with SWANA feminist movements. There is a collage of new and old clips with captions indicating where these videos were taken.
8. G—RAY AREA
Ava Ansari
The curatorial text reads:
"Ava Ansari
G—RAY AREA, 2021
Courtesy of the artist"
Moving counter-clockwise in the gallery, past the left wall of For Your Eyes Only, there is an L shaped wall with three small monitors mounted at around eye-level. Each monitor has a pair of headphones. Visitors are invited to listen to the soundtracks playing alongside the video.
In these three videos, Ava Ansari is activating a window display version of For Your Eyes Only, which directly resembles the bedroom installation we have at OXY ARTS.
Ava is interacting with the installation by sleeping in the bed, changing her clothes, walking around, doing yoga, drumming, singing, dancing, and even screaming at some points. Her movements are intentional while also fluid and improvised.
The video features closeups on Ava, as well as full views of the window installation with visitors watching from outside. There is some reflection of the street, cars, and passersby through the glass window.
Lastly, in the center of the gallery is our reading nook.
In the center of the large gallery is a reading lounge with a circular table, fuzzy pink rug, floral ottoman, and two beige poufs. On the table are books and zines curated by LAND, OXY ARTS, and Yasmine Nasser Diaz for visitors to pick up and engage with.
The titles are as follows:
Mona Eltahawy’s, “Headscarves and Hymens: Why the Middle East Needs a Sexual Revolution”,
Mona Eltahawy’s, “Seven Necessary Sins for Women and Girls”,
Silvia Federici’s, “Caliban and the Witch: Women, The Body, and Primitive Accumulation”,
Adrianne Maree Brown’s, “Pleasure Activism”,
LASTESIS’, “Antología Feminista”,
LASTESIS’, “Set Fear on Fire: The Feminist Call That Set The Americas Ablaze”,
Mizna and Asian American Writers Workshop’s “I Want Sky”,
Mizna’s Experimental Issue: Volume 22.2, 2021,
Aurélia Durand’s, “Dance for Joy”,
Rita Laura Segato’s, “La guerra contra las mujeres”
This concludes the screen reader guide.