Artist Talk: Marwa Arsanios
Wednesday 20 December 2023, 18:30 to 21:00
In Arabic and English languages
In conjunction with the exhibition Earthly Praxis, artist Marwa Arsanios converses with Sursock Museum’s curator Marie-Nour Héchaimé. The discussion focuses on Arsanios’ work Who is Afraid of Ideology? and the politics of land reclamation from an indigenous perspective.
Who is Afraid of Ideology? is a film series started in 2015 and composed of four videos (to date) where the artist looks at examples of struggles from Rojava (Northern Syria), south Tolimo (Columbia), and Lebanon to question the ways in which ideology and theory coincide with living practice of and around the land. Posited as an alternative to capitalist modes of governance, the artist's exploration leads us to consider other ways of relating to the land infused with eco-feminist knowledge, and from an autonomous and collective perspective.
The conversation is preceded by the screening of Who is Afraid of Ideology? Part 1 & 2, and Part 3
Who is Afraid of Ideology? Part 1&2
Dir. Marwa Arsanios, 2019
56', Lebanon
Arabic and Kurdish with English subtitles
Who is Afraid of Ideology? Part 1&2 examines structures of self-governance developed by the Kurdish autonomous women’s movement communities. Arsanios asks: How can the land provide refuge from oppression? Critiquing the top-down construction of state and party ideology, Arsanios’ study of feminist approaches to organizing a communal life with nature and non-human species proposes a way of decentralizing the role of the human mind as the primary actor in this process.
Who is Afraid of Ideology?Part 3: Micro Resistencias
Dir. Marwa Arsanios, 2020
31’, Lebanon
In Spanish with English subtitles
In Part 3: Micro Resistencias, Marwa Arsanios focuses on the region of Tolima, also known as one of the coffee-producing regions in Colombia and subjected to exploitation and violence such as forced displacements and murders. The artist highlights the struggles of indigenous women to preserve the ancestral knowledge of their communities concerning the cultivation and protection of the seeds that enable them to achieve a form of agricultural autonomy.
Arsanios’ latest video, Who is Afraid of Ideology? Part 4: Reverse Shot is currently on view in the Twin Galleries as part of the exhibition Earthly Praxis running until 31 December 2023.
Marwa Arsanios is an artist, filmmaker, and researcher living in Berlin. Her work takes the form of installation, performance, and moving images. Her practice tackles structural and infrastructural questions using different devices, forms, and strategies. Film becomes another form and a space for connecting struggles in the way images refer to each other.