Exhibition
I Need More Birds
19 Mar 2017
Event times
11am - 5pm
Cost of entry
Free
Address
- 529 Kingsland Road
- DALSTON
- London
England - E84AR
- United Kingdom
I Need More Birds is a celebration: an exhibition that thinks of the multiplicity of the figure of the fowl in a poetic and political sense. Through video, installation, and drawings, a group of strong women and allies share and challenge thoughts and ideologies.
About
Just as a flock that flies together, this event is a collaborative work that uses the imagery, the metaphor and the figure of these feathered creatures. They stand from a feminist gaze echoing the linguist anomaly that since 1300, equalled the burde (a young woman) to the bird, giving it an independent metaphorical implication on its own. However it is not just about gender or body, but the territory it occupies and experiences. As it is also an exploration of a Middle Eastern underground contemporary society. They take the symbol of a peacock — a pet usually found in the Middle East as a sign of opulence — to explore what they call ‘Reverse Orientalism’: that third space carved by their own rules created by contrast between the Western and the Eastern stereotypes that distances them from a historical canon.
Making collectively a V-shape in the sky as a moving mass that travels more for need than for pleasure, I Need More Birds is the launch event of the ‘VISA Collectiv’: a feminist duo comprised of two Arab artists. They explore the practical and political struggles concerning the relationship between the institution and minorities (women and LGBTQ+ communities) focused specifically on Middle Eastern society. It is compelled and moves towards women’s rights and the movement of people across social and national borders as an attempt to fly.
Text by Helena Lugo