YANTING HUANG
Care for the water is care for women: Exploring participatory performance practice as a feminist vehicle of political expression
Summary
Abstract
In the past two years, the severity of environmental problems and the devastating nature of the epidemic has had a regressive effect on the burgeoning gender equality movement. This has made it particularly urgent and necessary to care for those treated unequally and spread the idea of gender equality.
This research-by-practice explores the potentiality of participatory performance art as a feminist vehicle of political expression. Based on empathy at its core, participatory performance art is an essential medium of communication that gives voice to and empowers those on the margins. It is also a form of art that disrupts the male-dominated system of art evaluation, bringing more attention to female artists. Within this research, I utilise live participatory performance and moving image practice, with a focus on water as an allegory and embodiment of interconnections between gender inequality, climate crisis and bodily experience.
Keywords：Water, Gender inequality, Participatory Art, Empathy, Hydrofeminism
Additional info
Yanting Huang is an interdisciplinary artist and curator working on ecology and women. She is currently a graduate of the Mres Art and Humanity programme at the Royal College of Art, London, UK. Yanting completed her BA at the China Academy of Art, where she was awarded the Lin Fengmian Gold Medal for graduation work in 2019 and her work is in the collection of the China Academy of Art. She has been involved in various design projects including the Shanghai Museum and Shanghai Disney. Her work involves a variety of media including performance, video, painting and installation. Her most recent work is dedicated to the study of ecological issues and the complex relationship between humans and nature. She has also worked on how participatory art can be used to stimulate empathy and draw attention to women who are affected by environmental issues. All of her work uses simple artistic expression to provoke thoughtful consideration of the environment. She hopes to give a voice to women who are treated unequally due to environmental issues, which is why she initiated the Omitted References ecofeminist exhibition project in 2022.
Exhibition information
2019 Design & Citizenship, Zhangjiang Comtemporary Art Gallery, Shanghai
2022 In Ruined Time, Southwark Park Gallery, London
2022 Invisible, Exhibition curated by FloatingIsland Art, Online
2022 Invisible, Galleria Antonio Battagila, Milan
2022 Omitted References, The Art Pavilion, London
2022 Island-muteness is our common tongue, la Galerie du Génie de la Bastille, Paris
2022 A Dream of Tomorrow, Exhibition curated by Yuning Wang, Online
ISLAND
A woman walks slowly, hands outheld, cupping something fragile which we cannot see. She walks carefully, arms outstretched along the shoreline, intent on protecting that which she holds, tenderly, focused, concentrated - something of value that is cared for, yet seems to slip, drip, from between her fingers.
The boundaries of the scene are like the cage of the patriarchal society's culture, dividing the woman into two parts with nature. The woman is constantly wandering in the cage, sometimes breaking through the barriers and running towards the water, becoming one with it and sometimes retreating.
CARRY THE WATER
‘Water’ is not only the origin of biological control but also the epitome of gender inequality. In her work Carry the water, During the pandemic she took the same walk of several kilometres many times between two different destinations to break the boundaries of isolation, to free her imprisoned body, as well as to show her resistance to patriarchal control. At the same time, the puddle of water in my hand was fragile and unstable, and protecting it was not easy. It also made her realize the hardship of women carrying water in water-scarce areas and the humiliation that comes of women being oppressed.
CARRY THE WATER ACTIVITY
Yanting organized an event where she placed a canvas on the floor of my event and the audience was invited to experience the work of carrying water on my canvas. The water that leaked from their hands left a watermark on the canvas, creating a painting that resembles the unknown path that women walk in water-scarce areas. Through their participatory action, the audience not only experienced the hardship of carrying water and thus developed empathy, but also shared in the creation of the artwork.
