Gloria Anzaldua writes "Borderlands are physically present wherever two or more cultures edge each other, where people of different races occupy the same territory”. (*1)
bell hooks writes "the appropriation and use of space are political acts". (*2)
Theuri is Kenyan born and London raised, currently living and working in Coventry, and as a result of her experiences themes around space, place, movement and how they interact with race, gender and identity politics are central to her work. With this 9 week project the artist was attempting to understand the city of Volgograd in Russia through photos and conversations with a resident from Volgograd that she had never met in person. They had however, “met” in the social media sense, through conversations on Instagram.
In many ways this project demonstrates an artist endeavouring to transcend boundaries and limitations in travel that may come by default of being a Black woman. The project did not involve physical travel to Russia, thus allowing the artist to explore the city of Volgograd without worry of how her physical presence may be received in the city, echoing the ideas of bell hooks that “the appropriation and use of space are political acts".
Theuri was however, also open to the ideas that could be birthed as a result of her Instagram dialogue with a Volgograd resident. She was open to the creativity that is present and unfolds when cultures collide/collaborate, at the point/moment in which, to use Gloria Anzaldua words, “different races occupy the same territory". Although they are of different races, one of the things that the artist and the resident had in common was the fact that they are both women, meaning that there was the potential of shared experiences in their navigation of urban landscapes as a result of their gender. But at the same time the fact that they are of different races also meant that their experiences of navigating urban landscapes were very different - it is important to contextualise the life experiences of women of colour with an understanding of the racial discrimination they face. Commonality and difference were therefore simultaneously present with and within their dialogue.
What has resulted from this project is artwork that hopes to be a visual metaphor for Edward Soja’s notions around “third space”. Soja states that the third space is when
“everything comes together… subjectivity and objectivity, the abstract and the concrete, the real and the imagined, the knowable and the unimaginable, the repetitive and the differential, structure and agency, mind and body, consciousness and the unconscious, the disciplined and the transdisciplinary, everyday life and unending history." (*3)
Theuri’s work ultimately hopes to be a reimagining of spaces and places that already exist, but have been re-negotiated with boundaries and identities explored, contested, challenged and (hopefully) re-defined in some way.
(This text, although written in third person, was written by the artist Sylvia Theuri. It is therefore left open to challenges and contestations, if you would like to offer your perspective on the analysis please leave a comment in the contact section of the website. All perspectives welcome - but please be respectful and polite)
REFERENCES:
*1 - found in Soja, Edward W. (1996)Thirdspace. Malden (Mass.): Blackwell. (p 127)
*2 - found in Soja, Edward W. (1996) Thirdspace. Malden (Mass.): Blackwell. (p. 98)
*3 - Soja, Edward W. Thirdspace. Malden (Mass.): Blackwell. p. 57.
bell hooks writes "the appropriation and use of space are political acts". (*2)
Theuri is Kenyan born and London raised, currently living and working in Coventry, and as a result of her experiences themes around space, place, movement and how they interact with race, gender and identity politics are central to her work. With this 9 week project the artist was attempting to understand the city of Volgograd in Russia through photos and conversations with a resident from Volgograd that she had never met in person. They had however, “met” in the social media sense, through conversations on Instagram.
In many ways this project demonstrates an artist endeavouring to transcend boundaries and limitations in travel that may come by default of being a Black woman. The project did not involve physical travel to Russia, thus allowing the artist to explore the city of Volgograd without worry of how her physical presence may be received in the city, echoing the ideas of bell hooks that “the appropriation and use of space are political acts".
Theuri was however, also open to the ideas that could be birthed as a result of her Instagram dialogue with a Volgograd resident. She was open to the creativity that is present and unfolds when cultures collide/collaborate, at the point/moment in which, to use Gloria Anzaldua words, “different races occupy the same territory". Although they are of different races, one of the things that the artist and the resident had in common was the fact that they are both women, meaning that there was the potential of shared experiences in their navigation of urban landscapes as a result of their gender. But at the same time the fact that they are of different races also meant that their experiences of navigating urban landscapes were very different - it is important to contextualise the life experiences of women of colour with an understanding of the racial discrimination they face. Commonality and difference were therefore simultaneously present with and within their dialogue.
What has resulted from this project is artwork that hopes to be a visual metaphor for Edward Soja’s notions around “third space”. Soja states that the third space is when
“everything comes together… subjectivity and objectivity, the abstract and the concrete, the real and the imagined, the knowable and the unimaginable, the repetitive and the differential, structure and agency, mind and body, consciousness and the unconscious, the disciplined and the transdisciplinary, everyday life and unending history." (*3)
Theuri’s work ultimately hopes to be a reimagining of spaces and places that already exist, but have been re-negotiated with boundaries and identities explored, contested, challenged and (hopefully) re-defined in some way.
(This text, although written in third person, was written by the artist Sylvia Theuri. It is therefore left open to challenges and contestations, if you would like to offer your perspective on the analysis please leave a comment in the contact section of the website. All perspectives welcome - but please be respectful and polite)
REFERENCES:
*1 - found in Soja, Edward W. (1996)Thirdspace. Malden (Mass.): Blackwell. (p 127)
*2 - found in Soja, Edward W. (1996) Thirdspace. Malden (Mass.): Blackwell. (p. 98)
*3 - Soja, Edward W. Thirdspace. Malden (Mass.): Blackwell. p. 57.
- hooks, bell. (2009) Belonging, a culture of place. New York, Routledge
- Massey, Doreen. (1994) Space, Place and Gender. Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press
- Soja, Edward W. (1996) Thirdspace. Malden (Mass.), Blackwell