Letter Writing with EMILIA-AMALIA
Zinnia Naqvi (on behalf of Emilia-Amalia collective)
Letter writing workshop
free
Letter writing has always been a political act: whether affirming admiration for an artist or activist, providing support to friends and colleagues, collectively voicing dissent and demanding change, or responding to world events in the editorial pages, the letter is a form that lends itself to feminist strategies of protest, collaboration, knowledge-sharing and world-building. For this session, as part of Montreal Monochrome VI, we would like to consider letter writing as a way to hold people accountable. In today's contentious climate, we are often compelled to reach out directly to public figures to ensure political change or voice our outrage in regards to discriminatory or unjust policies, bills, judicial verdicts etc. While we are often reminded that every single voice matters and to make our voice heard, to the individual it can seem like a futile gesture that is sure to go unnoticed. Is the act of making our position known only beneficial in making us feel that we are inciting change? How much real effect do these acts have? How can we avoid becoming ambivalent in times of unjustness and unrest? EMILIA-AMALIA would like you to consider these ideas with us as we discuss them and collectively write letters to those who hold power and have obligations to serve the public.
EMILIA-AMALIA is an exploratory working group that employs practices of citation, annotation and autobiography as modes of activating feminist art, writing and research practices. Initiated in 2016, the group investigates historical and intergenerational feminisms, as well as relationships of mentorship, collaboration and indebtedness between artists, writers, thinkers, curators and practitioners. In tracing these lines, the group aims to elucidate the histories of feminism that have been obscured and overlooked in the narratives of 1970s, or “second-wave,” feminism that we have inherited. EMILIA-AMALIA critically examines how we fit in with those past iterations, and also, how we might update and extend them so that they can respond to contemporary questions. Motivated by a desire to think through these questions collaboratively, each monthly meeting is structured around a text, a conversation and a writing activity. EMILIA-AMALIA is initiated by Cecilia Berkovic, Yaniya Lee, Annie MacDonell, Zinnia Naqvi, Gabrielle Moser, Leila Timmins, cheyanne turions and Shellie Zhang.
Montréal Monochrome is an annual event which aims to address the mis- and under-representation and systemic oppression of marginalized groups in Montréal’s contemporary art milieu. The event works toward imagining and nurturing new and existing bonds, solidarities and friendships between Indigenous artists, thinkers and cultural workers and their racialized allies. This sixth edition of Montréal Monochrome wishes to explore the different meanings and socio-political ramifications that the concept of “sanctuary city” includes or suggests, especially if it is used to speak to notions of an unceded Indigenous territory. What does the city of “Montréal” represent for its inhabitants? A land of opportunity or the continuation of a colonial project? If not a sanctuary for its inhabitants, how can the city generate its own safe spaces? How do people belonging to marginalized communities develop their own survival strategies, self-protection, and self-care? The projects of this sixth edition speak to themes of sanctuary city, the sacred, the colonial project of Canada, and the right of peoples to self-determination.
articule’s gallery and washrooms are partially wheelchair accessible. If you have questions, require childcare, or have any other specific needs, please call us at 514-842-9686 or contact outreach@articule.org with advanced notice.
articule thanks our partner Programme Montréal Interculturel (PMI).