Parallel Dialogues Through Video and Time, Elaine Shemilt and Federica Marangoni, Museo Carlo Goldoni -Venice

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06 September – 20 October 2019  Casa di Carlo Goldoni, Venice, Italy

Federica Marangoni and Elaine Shemilt. Parallel Dialogues Through Video and Time
The exhibition ‘Federica Marangoni and Elaine Shemilt. Parallel Dialogues Through Video and Time’ features a selection of rare, historical video artworks and prints by the two European video pioneers Federica Marangoni and Elaine Shemilt.

The exhibition will be inaugurated by Dott.ssa Chiara Squarcina, Director of the Museum Casa Goldoni and artists Elaine Shemilt and Federica Marangoni; it starts its international tour from Casa Goldoni, Venice and will travel to Threshold artspace in Perth Scotland in 2020. It is produced with Adam Lockhart.

This exhibition aims to critically engage with the role of the feminist artists as activists, with constant societal and political commitment.

“It was the freedom that we were afforded. Every artist that used video had that, but I would argue that creating moving imagery where a film crew was not required was particularly liberating for women.” Elaine Shemilt

This exhibition explores representations of the woman’s body, its image in society, the woman as artist and the role of women.

Despite the correlation of their artistic approaches during the 1970s and ‘80s, Marangoni and Shemilt had no direct knowledge of each other’s work; while Marangoni pioneered environmentalism in media arts, Shemilt was championing pacifism and recognition of women in the processes of peace-making.

These works demonstrate Shemilt and Marangoni’s ongoing protest of the marginalisation of under-represented and vulnerable people and their belief in the power of the artist to influence. 

“Feminist film and video were both dedicated to challenging patriarchal tradition, especially its exploitation of the image of woman in art and in commodity culture. But the way the absolute novelty of the medium affected the encounter between women artists and video comes across strikingly from different accounts of movements across different European countries. In itself, novelty brought liberation: video had no place in the history of art and gave women artists an unprecedented freedom.”Laura Mulvey

The exhibition opening follows its counterpart book-launch ‘EWVA | European Women’s Video Art in the 70s and 80s’. Please see Book launch– Museo Correr, Piazza San Marco 52, Venice, at midday on 5 September 2019.