Testimonies

The YES! Association currently invites people working in the artfield e.g. artists, curators, art-critics, pedagogues and gallery owners, to contribute to Testimonies - an archive of discriminatory acts within the art field and comprehensive strategies to overthrow them.

We are looking for testimonies on discriminatory acts based on gender, ethnicity, class, sexuality or any other possible reasons for discrimination.

We are also very interested in hearing your thoughts on strategies, as we hope that the book will also contribute to the discussion on methods and ways to sabotage structural oppression.

How did you react in the situation that you experienced? Did you take any action? Did you tell anyone about what had occurred, and if not, what made you keep quiet? Did you get support from elsewhere? Thinking back on the situation now, what do you wish you had done? What would you suggest a fellow artist should do in a similar situation?

The art world's normative and value conserving gate keepers has for way too long trusted mechanisms such as isolation, taboos, hierarchal structures and shame. All to protect their actions from being revealed and for them to remain in power.

We think that now, with several important feminist art exhibitions taking place in the Western world (US and Europe), is the right time to put the oppressors up against the wall and demand real change. We believe that it is now - as always, crucial to continue the work of dismantling power structures by telling and sharing experiences.

We want to archive those stories for the after world and turn them into a historical document - a book. It is of equal importantance to us to initiate and co-create a reference material of the factual discrimination, as well as to gather a catalogue of strategies for resistance.

We look forward to receiving your contributions as soon as possible. If you would like to contribute with your testimony please contact testimonies@foreningenja.org. A book release for our first archive of testimonies is planned to Spring 2009.

We would also be grateful if you forwarded this enquiry to anyone you think might be interested.