Restaging Feminism: The Activist Retrospective. (1st October 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Davidson, Jane Chin
• Is Part Of: Journal of curatorial studies. Volume 8:Number 2(2019)
• Page Start: 162
• Page End: 182
• Publication Date: 2019-10-01
• Subjects: Curatorship -- Periodicals; Exhibitions -- Periodicals; 708.0075
• DOI: 10.1386/jcs_00002_1
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2045-5836

Abstract

AbstractIn the context of retrospective exhibitions, feminist restaging signifies a performative 'redoing' in a circuit of repetition that re-envisions, reinvents and remakes the discriminatory absences in history. In this article, the activism of restaging will be explored through the curatorial methods employed to memorialize Ana Mendieta's artistic legacy. Feminist strategies differ from the norms of canonical practices used in traditional career retrospectives, such as those for Mendieta's husband, Carl Andre. In another example of restaging, the 2011 re-presentation of Judy Chicago's works in Setting the Table created the opportunity to exhibit simultaneously Margarita Cabrera's sewing project in collaboration with Mexican artists. Restaging inaugurates the past and present of feminist collectivities, establishing a transnational activist model for repeat exhibitions.