Voicing the Archive. Discussion

VOICING THE ARCHIVE

Online discussion with Ofri Lapid and Jessica Nevo

October 1, 2021, 11:00 EDT / 18:00 MSK

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In conjunction with "Voicing the Silence" apexart exhibition

The discussion "Voicing the archive" is inspired by the archival and activist work of the Haifa Feminist Institute, which is based in Haifa, Israel. The HFI is a non-governmental feminist establishment of the activist group Isha Le’Isha ('woman to woman' in Hebrew) and home to the first and only queer-feminist archive in Israel. Among many important materials kept by the HFI are records of court trials of domestic violence. These were written by voluntary members of HFI, who were trained to enter the courtrooms and to formulate their own extra-institutional, subjective accounts. The discussion will engage with the position of the outsider observer in the court system; a position which undermines formality and promotes a subjective critical approach toward justice. Sociologist and activist Jessica Nevo will speak about the HFI program ‘Tribunal’ and the work that the Institute conducts in order to make visible and decrease gender-based and intersectional violence in Israel/Palestine. Artist Ofri Lapi, will present her recent reflections about working with the HFI documents of court observations from the 1990's, and excerpts from Maggie Nelson's book "The Red Parts". The event will be moderated by the exhibition curators Maria Veits and Anna Bitkina.

Sociologist and activist Jessica Nevo will speak about the HFI program 'Tribunal' and the work that the Institute conducts in order to make visible and decrease gender-based and intersectional violence in Israel/Palestine. Artist Ofri Lapid, will present her recet reflections about working with the HFI documents of court observations from the 1990's, and excerpts from Maggie Nelson's book "The Red Parts". The event will be moderated by the exhibition curators Maria Veits and Anna Bitkina.

Ofri Lapid is an artist and a PhD candidate at the school of visual arts in Hamburg. Her work concerns the composition, activation and dissolution of private, scholarly and independent archives. Her manner of working is based on a site-specific and collaborative practices, which often provide her the basis for installations of objects, photographs and videos. Additionally, she develops a series of orchestrated lecture performances: these combine oral narrations, field recording and objects and function both within academic conference settings and in exhibition spaces. She exhibited in various venues globally, her latest publication was featured in Archive Dekolonialisieren', Transcript Verlag, 2018.

Jessica Nevo is a sociologist expert on Gender and Conflict Transformation. She has been working for years in the non-profit sector and civil society NGOs as a consultant & external evaluator. Being aniIndependent researcher on transitional justice, she co-founder Justice in Case - The Center for Alternative Justice. Jessica is actively involved in development of People's courts and civil truth commissions on gender-based violence and Israel/Palestine.

"Voicing the Silence" amplifies the positions of Russian and international artists, who contribute to the global feminist agenda through art. The exhibition, along with accompanying public programs, showcases ways of challenging social and gender norms, unveils state mechanisms that control women’s rights and reproductive decisions, and addresses feminist movements across different countries and historical contexts. The exhibition is an apexart internation Open Call winner 2020-2021.