WOMEN AT WORK—CROSSROADS, RHYTHMS, AND CONTINUITIES

multichannel video installation | 80 min | 2023
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.

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, reflecting 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

FINDING THE WOMEN

Global labor divisions and hierarchies are influenced by values focusing on Western societies. Both Europe and Latin America showcase Western and non-Western perspectives. What do these perspectives mean beyond territory? What are the implications for Romania, Mexico, and other countries globally? The artists involve the local community to find 5 or 6 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 strive to connect the experiences of the women they work with. They share these questions with the women they interview and design more specific ones that target each woman’s work environment. The artists ask the women to spend at most 4 hours in their company, the time they film the interview, and their bodies at work. The actions, the gestures and the the body-image of the women at work are all aspects decided together as a team.

THE CINEMATIC APPROACH

The interview is filmed in a minimalistic, straightforward approach. In contrast, the labor section is filmed in a deconstructed manner, using a Camera Lenta cinematographic technique in which movement is intentionally slowed down. At the same time, the shooting is very effectively planned so that each part of the body or each action has its dynamic.

THE VIDEO SCREEN INSTALLATION

Whether TVs or projection screens, each screen contributes to a comprehensive image puzzle that collectively forms the complete picture. The installation adopts a performative and durational approach, narrating each story at a time, creating one image from multiple screens synchronized to run simultaneously. The subtitles are thoughtfully placed, ensuring they accompany your gaze, regardless of where you choose to look. The audience usually chooses to spend around 80 minutes in the exhibition space, but the set-up is relaxed with people being allowed to get in and out as they please.

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, notes from personal experiences, and contextualizes the work, offering the audience the opportunity to enter into the intimacy of the project. Introducing labor-related feminist concepts, the performative intervention is (self-)reflexive and (self-)critical, sometimes descriptive, other times with personal insertions. It brings into discussion, in a non-hierarchical manner, topics that are either treated with excessive emphasis or without real, empathetic interest in the public discourse. The two artists approach this with a specific performative medium, combined with applied research, offering the audience the chance to enter the intimacy of the project.

TEASER
MAKERS

Created by Flor Firvida Martin & Simona Deaconescu

With Maria, Candelaria, Geta, Cassandra, Petra, Larisa, Elvira, America, Billie Rose, Nina, Gabi

Curated by Alexandra Mihali

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

DATES

26—29 Oct 2023 » /SAC @ MALMAISON (Bucharest, RO)

2—5 Nov 2023 » HEI – House of European Institutes (Timisoara, RO)

7—11 Aug 2024 » Ex Teresa Arte Actual (Mexico City, MX)

15 Aug—06 Sep 2024 » Gotxikoa Gallery (Monterrey, MX)

8—17  Nov 2024 » Danza UNAM (Mexico City, MX)

21 Jun—19 Jul 2025 » Vernacular Institute (Mexico City, MX)

ITERATIONS
7-VIDEOCHANNELS INSTALLATION (CUSTOM MADE RETROPROJECTION SCREENS)
4-VIDEOCHANNELS INSTALLATION (CUSTOM MADE RETROPROJECTION SCREENS)
12-VIDEOCHANNELS INSTALLATION (LED TV SCREENS)
PARTNERS AND SPONSORS

Produced and distributed by Tangaj Collective Association. Hosted and supported by Ex Teresa Arte Actual, Galeria Gotxikoa. Co-financed by the Romanian Cultural Institute through the Cantemir Programme (2024) – a funding framework for cultural projects intended for the international environment. The Romanian Cultural Institute cannot be held responsible for the content of this material.

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 Timisoara through the Timisoara 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” is funded by the Municipality of Timișoara through the Projects Center.

Project partners include / SAC@MALMAISON, HEI -House of European Institutes, Cultural Center of Spain CDMX, Ciudad Retoño / Cauce Ciudadano Foundation Mexico City. 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.

*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.