domestica (f.)
Mythos | Maga | Femina
2021 - Ongoing
Project developed within the residency Diaphane pôle photoqgraphique x FRAC Picardie
“Domestication (from the Latin domus,“house”) is the action that man exerts on animals or plants, if only by raising or cultivating them. By appropriating them and using them for his pleasure or the satisfaction of his needs, man transforms them.”
In Lebanon, like almost everywhere in the world, women are still considered second-class citizens, and we are still fighting today for our most basic rights(custody rights, the right to giveLebanese nationality our children, the right to abortion...). Every ounce of freedom a woman gets seems to have been borrowed, not given. Oppressive behaviors against women are mainly due to the religious and sectarian states that govern the country. Laws protecting women and guaranteeing that they can act on their own moral and physical entity are often overlooked and ignored so as not to disrupt the status-quo that exists today.
For almost 30 years now, my mother has compiled a cookbook with recipes borrowed from friends. Throughout my life, she has shown a total lack of interest for cooking. In response to her indifference, my father took over the kitchen. This shift in dynamics in our household, which was a normal sight for me, raised a lot of questions from our surrounding because of the anomaly of this role reversal in our society. My father was never attached to a recipe. He has always evolved freely in the kitchen, manipulating the ingredients according to his desires.On the other hand, my mother was never able to cook without relying on her "borrowed" recipe book.
This project leans on the "borrowed recipes" as a trigger for reflection, attempting to dismantle the limits, guidelines and rules set by instructions and ingredients.
Domestica (f.) is a work in three chapters that explores the domestication of women through the body (Myths), knowledge (Witches),and being (Women). The first installation of the work is in the form of an artist's book which presents the ideas that will be explored in a more in-depth way through the chapters.
To view the entire project, please send an email.
Mythos (Myth)
The first chapter of the work investigates the domestication of women’s body through the revisiting of famous mythology (Eve, Venus, Leila, Astarté …). This sequence combines recipes (Eve’s apple, apple pie, perfumed underwear, …) with constructed imagery rooted in a collective imaginary, to reflect and deconstruct society’s gaze placed upon women’s body.
Maga (Witch)
The second chapter investigates the domestication of women’s knowledge by attempting to construct the portrait of a witch through nature. It explores thematics such as the erasure of female discoveries and the sidelining of their inventions, domestic violence, and femicide by drawing parallelism with the witche’s trials. This sequence uses recipes such as: lamb chops, fighting insomnia, …
Femina (Womanhood)
The third chapter investigates the domestication of women’s being through an exploration of the household and the domestic space. Reflecting on notions such as self worth, love, motherhood, and expectations through recipes such as: the weight of elements in gr., how to remove stains, how to fight a cold, how to preserve plants…