Women at Work — Crossroads, Rhythms, and Continuities
multichannel video installation and lecture performance, 2023—ongoing
description
Women at Work: Crossroads, Rhythms, and Continuities is a multi-channel cinematic installation created by Romanian choreographer and filmmaker Simona Deaconescu and Flor Firvida Martín, an Argentinean choreographer and researcher. The video installation can be adapted to multiple screen structures and is activated daily through a reading performed by the makers themselves.
Being an ongoing archive, up until now, the project brings together stories, professions, and movements of women from Mexico and Romania who work in environments where their bodies become their primary source of income. Through interviews conducted in both countries and a unique video dramaturgy, Women at Work shares a convergence of experiences, bodies, times, and spatialities.
A twerk dancer and social worker, a sculptor, a professional basketball player, a performance and bondage artist, a healer and doula, a female wrestler, a transgender seamstress and cook, a therapist and sex worker, an advocate for the rights of visually impaired individuals, a glass factory worker, a pole dancer, and contemporary dancer—all are part of this intricate tapestry.
How much do you earn? How much would you like to earn? What is it like to do your job as a woman? How is it to do it in your city? How do you feel your body when you perform it?
Women at Work is a nomadic and continuously growing project that explores the choreography of labor, aiming to create an archive of women’s economies in different countries. It reflects on what it means to be a woman—the demands, expectations, desires, affections, and violence that women experience, as well as the communities, care, and bonds that we weave.
process
Global labor divisions and hierarchies are influenced by values centered on Western societies. Both Europe and Latin America encompass Western and non-Western perspectives. But what do these perspectives mean beyond territorial boundaries? What are the implications for Romania, Mexico, and other countries globally? The artists involve the local community in identifying five or six women to collaborate with, ensuring a specific and authentic representation of diverse voices in their project.
the interview
The two artists have designed a set of questions that aim to connect the experiences of the women they work with. They share these questions with the women they interview and develop more specific ones tailored to each woman’s work environment. The artists ask the women to spend up to four hours in their company—the time during which they film the interview and capture their bodies at work. The actions, gestures, and body image of the women at work are all aspects decided collectively, as a team.
the video screen installation
Whether TVs or projection, each screen contributes to a comprehensive image puzzle that collectively forms a complete picture. The installation adopts a performative and durational approach, narrating each story one at a time and creating a single image from multiple screens synchronized to run simultaneously. The subtitles are thoughtfully placed to follow the gaze of the audience, no matter where they choose to look. Audiences typically spend around 80 minutes in the exhibition space, but the set-up is relaxed, allowing people to enter and leave as they please.
ExTeresa Arte Actual, Mexico City, 2024, 4 channels video installation, lecture performance)
the lecture performance
The exhibition is accompanied by a lecture-performance presented by the artists. This performative reading addresses notions of feminist economics and intersectionality, includes notes from personal experiences, and contextualizes the work, offering the audience the opportunity to enter the intimacy of the project. Introducing labor-related feminist concepts, the performative intervention is (self-)reflexive and (self-)critical—sometimes descriptive, other times featuring personal insertions. It brings into discussion, in a non-hierarchical manner, topics that are often either overly emphasized or approached without genuine, empathetic interest in public discourse. The two artists present this through a specific performative medium combined with applied research, inviting the audience into the intimate layers of the project.
participative area
One or multiple areas in the venue are designed to be participative, and the audience is invited to leave their traces while answering some of the questions the women in the installation are addressing. These areas should be simple and easy to interact with, such as a wall, a chalkboard, a paper on the floor, a table with post-it notes, etc. This space invites the audience to rethink the way they think about women’s bodies in relation to labour, but also to offer alternative perspectives complimentary to the ones exposed through the performative interviews exposed. The artists collect these traces and introduce them into their lecture performance.
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CREDITS
created by Flor Firvida Martin, Simona Deaconescu
with Maria, Candelaria, Geta, Cassandra, Petra, Larisa, Elvira, America, Billie Rose, Nina, Gabi
curated by Alexandra Mihali
dramaturgy Ciprian Marinescu
directors of photography Rhizomes Films, Carmen Tofeni
video editor Ana Branea
project coordinators Alexandra Mihali, Andreea Andrei
technical director Alexandru Andrei, Juan Casacuberta
graphic design Sebastian Hogea, Dan Lancea
produced and distributed by Tangaj Collective Association
promotion Ilinza Urmuzache
hosted and supported by Ex Teresa Arte Actual, Galeria Gotxikoa
co-financed by The Romanian Cultural Institute through the Cantemir Programme
project partners /SAC@MALMAISON, HEI -House of European Institutes, Cultural Center of Spain CDMX, Ciudad Retoño / Cauce Ciudadano Foundation Mexico City, Romanian Association for the Promotion of Performing Arts, German Cultural Centre Timișoara, FAPT Festival, The National Center for Dance Bucharest
special thanks to all the women who shared their stories with the artists and everyone who supported the project: Alex Radu, Mircea Topoleanu, Cristian Pascariu, and the TicMar Emma Concept team in Slatina
previously part of “Readings of Female Corporalities” and is a co-production of the Romanian Association for the Promotion of Performing Arts (ARPAS) and the German Cultural Center Timișoara through the Timișoara Performing Arts Festival (FAPT) 2023. With the support of the National Centre for Dance in Bucharest and co-financed by the Administration of the National Cultural Fund (AFCN) of Romania.* Funded through the national cultural program “Timișoara – European Capital of Culture in the year 2023” and the Municipality of Timișoara through the Projects Center.
*The project does not necessarily represent the position of the National Cultural Fund Administration. AFCN is not responsible for the project’s content or how the project’s results may be used. These are entirely the responsibility of the project beneficiary.
The Romanian Cultural Institute cannot be held responsible for the content of this material.