Omitted References
Curated by
Daisy Wang, Yanting Huang, Yan Xie and Wenqi Zou
Participating Artists include
Adri São Bento, Buket Yenidoğan, Cloe Galasso, Daisy Wang, Elspeth Walker, Fang Freya Wang, Hanne Peeraer, Healer (Ri Su, Xiaoying Lin, Zhiqi Fan, Ziyi Luo), Jesse May Fisher, Kate Howe, Molly Grad, Sarah-Athina Nahas, Sarra Badel, Wenqi Zou, Xiangfei Yan, Xinyu Xu, Yanting Huang, Yue Yu.
Venue support
The Art Pavilion, Mile End Park
Date
From 13 August, 2022
Until 17 August, 2022
Opening Hours
13 August - 17 August 10 am - 6 pm
Downloads
Booklet 1
Booklet 2
Over the past 30 years, female artists have managed to find opportunities and the possibility of expanding their practice in order to have a voice. This exhibition offers the chance for different omitted groups to present a more diverse range of views, exploring the connections between the environment, gender equality, female health, and non-human through the lens of different identities.
It is commonly-known that historiography has mainly been constructed and written by men, whereas women and minorities have rarely been documented; these omitted voices have contributed to the lack of objectivity. The contributions and achievements of women have been weakened, resulting in the oppression of their rights and status. Social evaluations have falsely shaped women's perceptions of their own bodies. Due to society's inherent bias about the female form, leading to misogyny related issues such as social exclusion, sexism, and hostility towards women. On the other hand, women have begun to develop self-doubt and even aversion in regards to their own bodies: Women, as Bracha L. Ettinge says, are the carriers of the "wound-spaces" of human life. The "wound spaces", as material and mental relics, have been deeply embedded in female bodies. Unspeakably, they have even been entwined with female spirits, haunting them from their first moment to their whole lives. Women's own sensory experiences are the invisible evidence under the patriarchal framework and geopolitical context.
The environmental issue is another omitted reference. Eco-feminist thinkers try to link the oppression and domination of female communities to environmental degradation: Throughout time, due to unequal resource acquisition, female communities have constantly suffered from oppression and exploitation. The threat to women in the challenging living environment strongly reflecting their unequal status. For example, in water-deficient areas, menstruating females are exposed to unclean water in an appalling sanitary environment, where AIDS can easily spread. Françoise d'Eaubonne points out that women have the potential to get along well with the natural environment, and therefore have the ability to lead society towards a more equitable and sustainable future, reversing climate degradation.
More and more voices are being erased as our society goes from one conflict to another, within a divided world. The exhibition tries to bring "Omitted References” back into the public sphere and present them with a platform to share their stories.