Women’s voices
Immersion in feminist demonstrations, in the word of women.
Device conceived and realized by Manon Gady and Maïa Hoog, students of the class of 2021/2022 of the Master 2 Audiovisual and Digital Media of the Université Grenoble Alpes, within the framework of a workshop “Mobile video and immersion” animated by Benoît Labourdette.
With very simple means, two video projectors and four small autonomous speakers, in a banal place like a classroom, this installation plunges the visitor in a very strong immersion, a real intimate experience, which can lead to real awareness of the stakes of feminism. Moreover, the production of images by the visitors is encouraged, which makes that it remains of this unique moment of very singular and aesthetic visual traces, tools of inscription in the personal account.
Presentation text
An immersive digital device on the theme of feminist demonstrations, intended for all audiences, for exhibitions or workshops.
The experience: a visual and auditory immersion
To immerse the audience in a feminist demonstration, we projected video archives of demonstrations at different times and from different countries. For this first test, we immersed the spectators in an American demonstration of the 1970s and in a militant flashmob organized in 2019 by a Chilean association.
These images were accompanied by four audio sources scattered in different places of the room. Each speaker broadcasted an emblematic sound of a demonstration: feminist songs (one French and one Chilean), crowd sounds (footsteps, shouts, batucada, slogans...), and police sirens.
When they arrive, the speakers welcome the spectators as if they were arriving in a real demonstration: they hand out leaflets with the lyrics of the feminist songs that are being broadcast, and offer them to mingle with the crowd, either by their shadow or by their voice. The audience can also follow the choreography of the Chilean demonstrators to feel involved in the movement. Finally, they advise them to take pictures of this event, for the memory, but also to fight against the possible police violence.
The participants have to move in the space to better perceive the images but especially the different sounds that compose this almost chaotic atmosphere. They can then choose to stay close to one of the speakers to hear more distinctly the chants and join the women’s voices.
The goal of this device is to make live an immersive and participative digital experience (thanks to the songs and dances) and to offer the possibility to people who have never demonstrated alongside feminists, to discover this militant universe. This device also allows to inform the participants about the history of the emblematic songs of women of these movements (“The hymn of the women” of 1971 and “Un violador en tu camino” of 2019).
For this first performance, the images were shown on two walls that made up a small space. We were able to accommodate 14 people. However, this device can be adapted in a much larger space (by projecting on four walls) and will be able to accommodate a larger number of spectators.The diffusion of the images and sounds is done in loop and thus does not have a limited duration: it is the public which decides when they wish to conclude the experiment.
Technical sheet
To create this device we used:
- 4 mini speakers
- 2 video projectors
- Archival images
- Sound recordings
- sheets of lyrics of feminist songs
The possible variations
This device can be used for different exhibitions or workshops. It can present many subjects, whether it be demonstrations for other demands, but also famous historical events (famous speeches, festive events, political events...).
Concerning the construction of the device, we can also imagine adding other elements of scenography like light, smoke... to immerse the spectators even more in an event.Manon Gady and Maïa Hoog
The practice of feminism seems to me to be an essential stake in the cultural actions, because the awareness of the systems of domination allows to go towards more equality, therefore to contribute to the democracy. The inequality between women and men is for me a cornerstone of the dominations that harm everyone.
But how to “put feminism into practice” concretely in public proposals? How can cultural actions, whatever their field of implementation (artistic, social, educational, professional...), arouse inner movements towards more respect of human rights? It is not a question of stating a normative feminist discourse, but of putting into practice an equality in the ways of acting. This is much more delicate and delicate to do than one might think, because it involves questioning one’s own unconscious functioning.
I share here some resources, partial, from my own pathways, practices and questionings: proposals and stories of cultural actions, working methods, methods of artistic creation and more conceptual or biographical reflections.
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Domination on Display: An Ethnological Analysis of the 51st César Ceremony
Eight years after Blanche Gardin, six years after Adèle Haenel, nothing has changed. The system has even strengthened itself.
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Patriarchal feminism
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Students in the Master 2 Audiovisual and Digital Media (AVMN) program at Grenoble University were asked to organize an exhibition on the theme of (…) -
A definition of feminism
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Here is my definition of feminism, from my place as a man: it is for me a movement of thought and action for equal rights between women and men, (…) -
Podcast: “For a democratic and feminist pedagogy”
Dialogue between Noémie Rubat du Mérac and Benoît Labourdette on June 25, 2022.
Overview of the fundamentals of the pedagogical actions conceived and carried out by Benoît Labourdette, linked to the deconstruction of systems (…) -
Collective film shot in a movie theater
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Giving a voice in a creative way to the spectators of a movie theater, before the screening of a film.I put this proposal into practice in the (…) -
Equality is not won!
A collective film (3’12s, 2022).
An intergenerational film to become more aware, and more equipped, to defend equality. -
Fragments of lives
A collective movie (3’20s, 2022).
By sharing all our views, even the most intimate ones, we become stronger! -
Putting yourself in the other person’s shoes
A collective film supervised by Benoît Labourdette (2’40s, 2021).
Collective empathy exercise. -
Women’s voices
Immersive digital device, designed by Manon Gady and Maïa Hoog.
Immersion in feminist demonstrations, in the word of women.Device conceived and realized by Manon Gady and Maïa Hoog, students of the class of (…) -
Writing workshop in inclusive language
Literary game.
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Feminist Contemplation
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Words projected on the walls transform a simple place into a space that invites an intimate thought of feminism.Installation realized in (…) -
The feminine neutral
Speaking method.
Count the number of people present, and if there is a majority of women, suggest the game of using the “feminine neuter”: “all of us” instead of (…) -
In front of our eyes
Collective film (3’10s, 2021).
Behind every object, the patriarchyIt is a chain, a sequence shot: each person films an object and gives it life, through the voice, putting (…) -
Gisèle Halimi Feminist Film Festival - Ville des Lilas: “Female gaze” workshop
Film creation workshop, to decode the images.
Male gaze ? Female gaze? What is the difference? How do images place us in positions of domination or submission? In the lobby of the Garde-Chasse (…) -
What kind of world do we want?
A film by Benoît Labourdette (0’54s, muet, 2020).
Bibliography in 2020 for the emancipation of women and men. -
Audiovisual workshops to combat gender stereotypes
Methods for audiovisual creativity.
Thought-provoking ideas and proposals for audiovisual workshop concepts for nuanced and useful actions, with the aim of building critical thinking (…) -
Sexuality #01
A film by Benoît Labourdette (2’28s, 2020).
Sexuality, that intimate space that we experience as natural and spontaneous, is in fact largely constructed by our culture. For more sexual (…) -
Domination
Un film de Benoît Labourdette (1’26s, muet, 2017).
Rebattre les cartes des systèmes de domination.
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Feminist Contemplation Participatory art installation.
Words projected on the walls transform a simple place into a space that invites an intimate thought of feminism.Installation realized in (…) -
Workshop immersive techniques for creating an exhibition An account of a method for constructing a point of view and an exhibition.
Students in the Master 2 Audiovisual and Digital Media (AVMN) program at Grenoble University were asked to organize an exhibition on the theme of (…) -
Drawing on architecture Research on image
The projected image is an extremely rich track to animate architecture, private or public space, the theatre stage. I have been experimenting with (…) -
Filming in connection Participative exhibition.
Participative exhibition at the City Hall of the 11th district of Paris, to complete the project “Filming in connexion”. As part of the vast (…) -
Trailer of the 2012 Creteil International Women’s Film Festival Commissioning films and video content strategies
In 2012, the International Women’s Film Festival of Créteil is subtitled “The Return of the Fireflies”. The directors of Europe and of the whole (…)
