MINOUMENT #2

MINOUMENT #2

MINOUMENT #1

Courtesy Fernanda Nigro

Minoument

MINOUMENT is a performance in public space to make violence against women in war visible: Women are strategic targets. With the performance MINOUMENT I want to highlight that all murders, rapes and all violence against unarmed women in war are deliberate - not a private fate - and need to be recognized and honored.

Let alone abolish war and dismantle patriarchy.

The first issue of MINOUMENT took place in November 2024 at Heeresgeschichtliches Museum Wien.

Violet Landscapes, 2003

Violet Landscapes consists of an animated watercolour depicting the hills seen from the terrace of my great grandmother Thouraya in Kfeir, Palestine. The hilltops are crowned by glittering lights, on the one hand beautiful on the other a sign that illegal settlers have occupied that area. One version for day and night together with the powerful choir of crickets they create a heated, uncanny atmosphere.

As a child I was mesmerized by the diamond like lights on the hilltops. Until I understood what they mean. This change of perception is one of my key experiences of how deeply politics shape our public and private life.

Salzburger Kunstverein/A

Disguise for identity, 2004

This work is playing with Arab identity and is connected to Edward Said´s "Orientalism".

I staged some self portraits in contexts that I was put in by others, as a true Palestinian, as a extrovert revolting Arab but Western artist in a bourgeois surrounding and so on. I ended up asking into the lens installed in my kitchen what the camera is thinking who I am.

Salzburger Kunstverein/A

Flying Carpet Salzburg-Ramallah, 2005, 3 weeks

Flying Carpet enables a digital dialogue between two parties unlikely to get into contact: the Museum Rupertinum in Salzburg/A and the Goethe Institut/Institut Français in Ramallah/P. Visitors of each place can start a casual chat with the other end via webcam and Skype phone - new at that time. Skipping crusted stereotypes one could just start texting very casually. Additional video installation with a survey of Palestinian voices. See button.

Museum Rupertinum Salzburg/A & Goethe Institut/Institut Français, Ramallah/P

Fascinated by the subtle way Jan van den Hecke/Flowers in a vase with the siege of Gravelingen created this brilliant tension by putting a lush still life against the backdrop of a battle scene, I re-staged the ever actual arrangement.

By juxtaposing monuments/artefacts symbolizing occidental and oriental culture I am searching for ways to express my own situation.

Cité des Arts, Paris/F

Flowers in times of war, 2005

Flying Carpet Boston-Bethlehem, 2007, 3 months

Flying Carpet enables a digital dialogue between two parties unlikely to get into contact: the MIT Visual Art center/Cambridge/USA and the Peace Center/Bethlehem/P. Visitors of each place can start a casual chat with the other end via webcam and chat box - new at that time. Skipping crusted prejudices one could just ask texting very casually. Additional video installation with a survey of Palestinian voices. See button.

MIT Visual Art Center/Cambridge/ USA - Peace Center/Bethlehem/P

Commissioned by the festival for literature Wege durch das Land. 4 poems were transformed into installations in public space.

One poem floated on the river Ems built of flower letters, one was printed on wrapping paper distributed in the shops of the village. For another a video was created from an alphabeth of fiery letters made by sparklers filmed against the night sky, it was screened in a construction site. And the last poem was stenciled out of magnetic foil and sticked to the wall of the Jewish cemetry in town.

Wege durch das Land, Detmold/D

4 installations in public space staging 4 poems in Rietberg/D, 2008

Courtesy Matthias Schrumpf

Disko Diwan, 2009

Disko Diwan consists of a black box space filled with music - composition by Hossam Mahmoud - , flickering lights and poems in Arabic and English in fluorescent letters on the wall.

Once entering the room you can feel inspired to dance, read, listen or take a seat in the middle.

Salzburger Kunstverein/A, 2009

Strange Fruits invited the inhabitants of Matrei, a village in Tyrol, to design individual cushions for their church benches. In a one week lasting workshop I offered blank cushions, color and stamps for every participants from 4-88.

The motives on the stamps were taken from the fruits that Tyrol and Palestine are growing and living from. In that way I created a bridge between the region of the bible of nowadays and Matrei.

Award Installation in public space 2010, Innsbruck/A

Strange Fruits, 2010

Courtesy Cordula Flegel

Mammodance, 2022-2023

In 2022 the concept of Mammocracy evolved based on the fact that mammals need to nurture and support each other for survival.

One part of this concept leads to Mammodance: Dancing regularly in public space and inviting passersby to join.

From October 2022 to April 2023 we performed every Monday.

Only made possible by the adorable knowledge and kindest support of Dr. Angelika Frühwirth.

Public space in front of Jeanskamel,Vienna/A, 2022-2023

Microprater is a bowling lane with a phallic silhouette and penis shaped cones invites to smash patriarchy. Another station of this fun fair is a big boob made from used denim you can lean on or lay beneath.

Made possible only with the breath- taking efforts of Adam Lebesmühlbacher-Aichberger.

Jeanskamel, Vienna/A

Microprater, 2023