Gabriella Zeno
Matrilinear Biographies
Matrilinear Biographies is an artistic/research project on matrilineality, which I developed in 2019 in Tàrrega, Catalunya, at the Arxiu Comarcal de l’Urgell (ACUR) public archive with the local female community. The project was a way of investigating patriarchal dominance when it comes to naming women, the institutionalized oppression in formal structures pertaining to women: the nameless par excellence, and of increasing an awareness and understanding of women’s invisibility in our society.
To all my mothers
To all my mothers is a participatory performance concerning themes such as maternity, female genealogy and consumable body that are all indagated on the pattern laid down by various feminist and ecofeminist theories.
The whole project started to take form when I asked myself questions such as:
"What is the value of motherhood in our patriarchal, androcentric and capitalist society?"
"How many mothers did I eat before going vegan?"
This work is an attempt to broaden awareness on woman's identity and on female body exploitation of female farmed animals and women in our society.
To all my mothers was realized with the support of the European Cultural Foundation during my residency in the Autumn 2018, at the CAT Baltic Contemporary Gallery, in Ustka, Poland.
