Twelve Faces of Armenian Feminism: Archiving, between preservation and erasure

Sevan Injejikian in discussion with Chantal Partamian

Monday, March 4, 6 pm
In French, English and Arabic
Free, at the gallery

Facebook Event

For the second iteration of Mediterranean Explorations: Evolving archives and varied perspectives, filmmaker and archivist Chantal Partamian will be in conversation with researcher Sevan Injejikian. The event will draw on Injejikian’s collaboration in the digital exhibition and educational platform Twelve Faces of Armenian Feminism that documents the intellectual output and activism of Ottoman Armenian women from the 1860 to the 1960.

The discussion will consider questions regarding the accessibility of displaced and dispersed archives that have been shaped by a history of material, territorial and cultural loss after the Armenian Genocide in 1915. How can one retrieve and (re)engage with some of these archives, and what are the potential advantages of, and limitations to, using a digital platform as a space of encounter? What does it mean to present these archives digitally and deprive the viewer/researcher from their physical presence, when they have physically crossed geographical borders, carried against the bodies of displaced people, in order to survive? Building on feminist and decolonial frameworks, the conversation will address the urgency in being able to locate, document, critically intervene in, and share these archives with a wider audience, especially when they are still at risk of historical erasure.

Sevan Injejikian is a researcher, educator, and independent curator. Her research focuses on politically engaged new media art practices from MENA, and the use of digital technologies during political crises by artists and activists working towards social justice. From 2019 to 2021, Injejikian was a lecturer at the American University of Armenia (AUA). She has worked as an Assistant-Curator in Education and Cultural Action at the Foreman Art Gallery of Bishop’s University. She has also acted as a Guest Curator for Women in Action Projects (WIA projects) as part of the Jackman Humanities Institute’s programming for the arts at the University of Toronto, among other projects.

Chantal Partamian is an experimental filmmaker and archivist. Her work explores themes of migration, identity, conflict and obsolescence, using mainly Super 8mm and found footage. Her archival activities focus on the preservation and restoration of reels from the Mediterranean basin, combined with research into archival practices in regions of conflict. Partamian’s films have been presented and awarded at numerous festivals. They are distributed by Vidéographe, Groupe intervention Vidéo (GIV) and the Canadian filmmakers distribution center (CFMDC).