Event, Feminist art, Intervention, Live art, mother artist, Performance, Takeover, women artists
Public Takeover 2017 - Tate Modern
Maria Balshaw has become the new director of Tate this June and with Frances Morris continuing as director of the gallery we ask, will we see representation of female artists continue to grow? We cannot assume so. Penelope Curtis was persuaded out of her role at Tate Britain apparently by Art critics; in the UK a majority of people voted to leave the European Union with immigration flagged as one of the largest concerns; in the US people voted in a misogynist and racist as president. Now is not the time to assume discrimination is in the past. It is not. The DAW Takeover outside Tate Modern wanted to respond to the consistent lack of representation of Art considered domestic, feminine and feminist. But also to the opportunity we are now presented with, an opportunity for further positive change for representation. Alongside the main Takeover we have also initiated an Internet Campaign for those women that have not been able to attend because of family commitments, lack of resources and distance. Throughout the day we received images of women artists reinterpreting a domestic action of their choice sent via Twitter and/or Facebook with the hashtag #uniteddespitethedistance #motherartist #desperateartwives #publictakeover. People from all over the world took part in the Takeover . Other supporters that joined us via social media were Martha Joy Rose of The Museum of Motherhood, Deirdre M.Donoghue Founder and Curator of M/Other Voices, Suzy Spence Director and Curator of the Womenhouse Archive, Dyana Gravina Founder and Artistic Director of ProCreate Project and from the Initiator and Curator of the Israeli “mamactivist chapter” of this Takeover Shira Richter plus many more.
This takeover is also conceived by Artist and Interpreter Susan Merrick. Susan is an MA Fine Art Student at UCA Farnham and externally to this is running ‘Statements in Semaphore’, an Arts Council funded project she developed as Artist in Residence of FiLia 2017. Susan’s practice uses social dialogue and visual communication methods to consider current themes of language and power. Susan has been named one of the lead artists of LADA DIY 14, has been part of several residencies across 2016 and 2017 including working with the National Archives and has exhibited extensively across the UK in the past two years.
Susan says “The DAW Takeovers for me are about responding to sites and events as well as current issues. With this in mind it seemed imperative that these start going public as well as continuing within organised events. We are starting to see changes in the art world with regard to representation, but there is still so much to do to challenge current norms. Is it a question of access? Does gender, race, age, sexuality, disability restrict our access? What is in place that does this? Fianancial barriers? Educational barriers? Long held prejudice and bias, individual and institutoinal? Who you know? I deal with these questions in my own art practice so I wanted to start talking about it with more people. It is by far nowlt a new area of discussion, but it remains very relevant. This Takeover is just the start of the conversations for me. It was fantastic to see so many women join on social media via our #uniteddespitethedistance hashtag. This won’t be the last Public Takeover from DAW!”
www.susanmerrick.co.uk
www.statementsinsemaphore.co.uk
