ESPACIOS SEGUROS

2020 2K Video, 19’ 55’’

Courtesy the artist, Galerie Perrotin, Galería Vermelho, Galería Albarrán Bourdais and Fondazione In Between Art Film

Commissioned and produced by In Between Art Film for the project Mascarilla 19 – Codes of Domestic Violence

IVÁN ARGOTE

The practice of Iván Argote (b. 1983 in Bogotá, based in Paris) centers on exploring the complex systems that govern the relationships between individuals, and the ways in which history, social roles, and power shape the structures of cities and public space. His works rely on a wide range of media, including video, photography, sculpture, drawing, and installation.

In Espacios Seguros (Safe Spaces), Argote conceptually links two cities to which he is personally tied: Bogotá, where he was born and raised, and Paris, where he trained as an artist and now lives. Two contexts that are very different from each other politically, economically and socially, but where the statistics and dynamics of violence against women are tragically similar.

The artist films the inscriptions that have been posted around his neighborhood by Collages Feminicides, an anonymous collective of women artists; using short phrases and simple but immediately recognizable graphics, they highlight the pervasiveness of gender violence and femicide in France. The camera slowly zooms in on these collages, while in the background the life of the city proceeds at its usual pace, culpably indifferent to the tragedy they reveal. Argote thus shifts the sphere of dialogue from the private realm to the public one, forcing us to reflect on the normalization of violence and the paradoxical nature of a problem that seems hidden but is actually right in plain view.

Over the collages, we hear the voice of Diana Rodriguez Franco, “Secretaria de la Mujer de Bogotá”: head of the city’s department of women’s affairs, charged with implementing public policies for preventing domestic violence and supporting victims. Interviewed by the artist, this official explains how the program Espacios Seguros was developed in response to the growing number of cases of domestic violence during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Although the text, images, and sound are in different languages, they form a shared grammar that emphasizes the gravity of the situation and the need to act immediately.