Invitation to the Defense of Virginie Bobin
The PhD-in-Practice program of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna kindly invites you to the defense of Virginie Bobin´s dissertation project "Au risque des autres" Political Gestures and Affective Encounters with Translation.
The Examination Panel is made up of: XXX (chair), Univ.-Prof. Mag. Dr. Anette Baldauf (first supervisor), Univ.-Prof. Dr. Renate Lorenz (second supervisor) and Tiphaine Samoyault (external appraiser, Université Sorbonne Nouvelle).
Abstract
"Au risque des autres" studies and performs different ways of working with, and being affected by, translation and language politics in the French context, as it is shaped by colonial and postcolonial histories and relations. It engages with the ambiguous notion of untranslatability—"not that that we cannot translate, but that that we never cease to translate" (Cassin 2006)—to posit translation as an ongoing labor of care and unlearning, often performed "with others, thanks to others and at the risk of others" (Stengers 2021). In practice, the research unfolded through various exercises in individual and collective translation; Qalqalah قلقلة, an editorial and curatorial platform working across Frenches, Arabics and Englishes; and an inquiry into the role of translation in the ecosystem of asylum rights.
Short biography
Virginie Bobin works often collectively, at the crossroads between research, curatorial and editorial practices, pedagogy and translation. In 2018, she co-founded with Victorine Grataloup the curatorial and editorial platform Qalqalah قلقلة, with whom she co-curated two exhibitions at CRAC in Sète (2020) and La Kunsthalle Mulhouse (2021); and co-organized several workshops and events. In parallel, she developed a long-term dialogue with artist Mercedes Azpilicueta, notably leading to three exhibitions at CentroCentro (Madrid), Museion (Bolsano) and CAC Brétigny between 2019 and 2021; and to a publication (forthcoming with K. Verlag, 2023).She's currently curator-in-residence at Esadhar, a school of fine arts in Rouen.
Until 2018, she was Head of programs at Villa Vassilieff, a space for residencies and research that she co-founded in 2016 in Paris. She has worked for Bétonsalon – Center for Art and Research, Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art, Manifesta Journal, Les Laboratoires d’Aubervilliers and Performa, the New York performance biennial.
The defense presentation will be in English Language and will take place in room DG 6.
We are looking forward to welcoming you.