The first Feminale of Contemporary Art is held in Bishkek. A large-scale exposition was opened at the Kyrgyz National Museum of Fine Arts named after Gapar Aitiev with works of 56 artists from 22 countries.
The Feminale was organized in memory of 17 women, who burned down at a Moscow printing house on August 27, 2016. Fourteen of them were labor migrants from Kyrgyzstan.
The event attracted public attention due to the scandal around a nude model. It was a performance about protection of the rights of sex workers by a Danish artist Julie Savery.
The Feminale is a feminist biennale, it gathers artists with a feminist stance who in their works show social abscesses that prevent them from reaching a healthy reality, without gender inequality and violence.
«This is violence against women. It is a pain. This is fear. Artists from all over the world tell about their feelings. But we are forbidden even it. We are all free. We all live in a secular state,» an organizer Altyn Kapalova told about the exhibition.
As always, they shut us up, shut our mouths. It will not work. Art is uncensored.
Altyn Kapalova
The central theme of the 2019 Feminale is the economic freedom of women, a woman who is a breadwinner of her family. A breadwinner, who must bring money to the family.
The Feminale brought together artists from 22 states who reflect on topics: a breadwinner, economic non / freedom, domestic violence, mental health, political participation.
The exhibition presents works that influence all channels of perception: smell, hearing, tactility, vision.
Another performance that provoked heated discussions on social networks is about the plight of young women — a girl washing lamb intestines in a bowl.
The exhibition will be open until December 15 of this year.
However, not everyone liked the Feminale in Bishkek. Activists from Kyrk Choro movement have already been indignant and stated that they intend to hold a protest rally.
