Notes to Continue Thinking about Feminist Artivism in Mexico
We are coninuing to present texts published in FEMINIST ART HISTORIOGRAPHIES IN EASTERN EUROPE AND LATIN AMERICA issue of “Ikonotheka” 33 (2024).
Authors: Cecila Itzel Noriega Vega, Una Pardo Ibarra
Abstract:
Despite the large number of feminist artistic practices in Mexico that clearly ascribe to women’s rights and the fight against gender violence, there is a historiographical problem regarding the use of a term capable of accounting for the social impact of these practices. Therefore, one may suggest analysing the plurality of terms to understand the increasingly present use in Mexico in recent years of the term feminist artivism. We identify how the use of the term evokes a diversity of cultural agents that may or may not be linked to the world of art, which requires its own discussion so that we might understand the scope and limitations of these artistic practices and how we study them. One of the main problems is the development of feminist artivism in the context of neoliberalism and globalisation, where some artistic practices can be ascribed to this term but can end up contributing to mercantilist logic. Likewise, there are many subversive actions with aesthetic potential that this term omits, which force us to rethink artistic frameworks. Thereby, as a way of offering a term that seeks to account for the characteristics of current art, we propose incorporating the concept of feminist aesthetic-political practices. It is not our intention to offer an unequivocal and unstable category but rather to show the complexity that goes through the artistic and cultural practices that are positioned by feminism today. Finally, as far as methodology is concerned, we suggest writing based on situated knowledge and acknowledging the potential of oral history. Also, we try to give voice to a plurality of stories and experiences, from different disciplinary fields and to establish intergenerational dialogues, as an exercise in collaborative reflection, or accompanied thought, that allows us to raise the problem in its complexity.
