The Clean, the Dirty, and the Hybrid: Ecofeminist Art Practices

Patriarchal systems in different world cultures have long interpreted women as obsessed with cleaning and purification, exactly because the anthropologically driven representation of women as ‘dirty’. Nevertheless, ever since Mary Douglas published her quintessential book Purity and Danger: An Analysis of Concepts of Pollution and Taboo (1966), the contrast of clean and pure versus dirty became unraveled and unviable.

In this talk, dr. Suzana Milevska will discuss various art practices of women artists who mounted ecofeminism as a critical frame that not only offers environmental awareness, but also aims to deconstruct the assumptions that dwell on stereotypical and patriarchal hierarchical understanding of women's creativity and productivity. Milevska will particularly focus on art projects by ecofeminist artists who attempted on conceptualisation and application of the rhizomatic model of hybrid knowledge in order to undo the existing systemic hierarchies and models of knowledge.

• Dr. Suzana Milevska is a curator and theorist of visual cultures. Her theoretical and curatorial interests include postcolonial and feminist critique of representational regimes of hegemonic power in arts and visual culture, and collaborative and participatory art practices in marginalized communities. From 2016-2019 she was Principal Investigator for the project Transmitting of Contentious Cultural Heritages with the Arts (TRACES – EU Programme Horizon 2020), at the Polytechnic University Milan.