Infinite Freedom, A World For A Feminist Democracy
16.09.2022 - 01.01.2023
ART AND ARCHITECTURE BIENNAL OF FRAC CENTRE-VAL DE LOIRE
Infinite Freedom: A word for a Feminist Democracy is the first biennial in France dedicated to the exclusive invitation of women artists and architects.
A Founding Act, Made in Vierzon.
Freedom guides the thinking of the artists and architects of the Biennale towards the search for a new definition, for an inclusive, plural democracy that is conscious of the inequalities that we must fight. While the environmental crisis demands that we reconsider the equality between humans and Nature and while migrational crises command the acceptance of a global citizenry for a shared planet, the fight for equality between women and men, and that of all genders, remains of vital importance. We must be feminists to finally accept our diversity and be capable of confronting the challenges to come.
Placing this Biennale in the wake of feminisms means creating the conditions for a reappropriation of reality, with a new imaginary in which patriarchal determinisms will eventually disappear. I firmly believe that it is the only way to ultimately ensure the acceptance of differences of gender, origins, and faiths.
Which cities and which urban planning programmes are devised by and for women?
What mechanisms should be put in place to bring this artistic production out of the shadows? What interpretation of the history of the arts can be seen through the lens of feminisms? In an uncertain world, what kind of society do we want to live in? The Biennale does not claim to answer these questions. However, it offers the chance to brainstorm the roadmap required to embark on this path. It brings together artists and architects, citizens and elected politicians. This dialogue was possible in Vierzon.
Armed with its industrial and agricultural character, but also its privileged geographic position, Vierzon is located at the crossroads of several cities and lines of communication.
Its beautiful environment, at the point of confluence of five rivers, including the Yèvre and the Cher, endows it with an identity as “the city of waters” surrounded by a state forest. We have made this context the stage of our Biennale and the majority of the artworks emerged within a constructive conversation with the city’s rich tapestry: its present, its residents, and its dreams for the future. The artworks will remain in
Vierzon as testaments and tributes to the women artists and the inhabitants.