Tuija Asta Jarvenpaa - WMN'S Parliament

WMN'S Parliament is an international artwork I have been building with a team of experts; documentarist- artist Saddie Choua (BE), artist- graphic designer Corine Datema (NL) and ENOMW European Network of Migrant Women as the community artpartner. The work consists of multiple parts; a prologue phace with lecture series, salons and other events leading to the final multimedia event: WMN'S Parliament.

WMN’S Parliament is an appeal to think, dream, question, about a new start of humanity where women fully participate.

By now WMN'S Parliament has been present at

-Festival Concrete / Fortaleza - Brazil, 2017

-Kooshk Residency / Tehran - Iran, 2018

-Small Projects Gallery / Tromsø -Norway, 2018

- ‘De liens et d’ exils’ -exhibition / Villa Empain Brussels - Belgium, 2018

-Contour 9 Biennale in Mechelen - Belgium, 2019

-Kunsthal Gent, Gent - Belgium, 2019

-Gallery Perspektive, Tammisaari - Finland, 2020

-( Goethe Institut, Amsterdam 2020, CANCELLED )

-Kallio Library, Helsinki, Finland, 2020

-Gallery Perspektive, Tammisaari - Finland, 2023

Digital collage of President Dilma Rousseff´s last regime with the 6 female Ministers. Unknown artist, 05-2016

background

May the 12th, 2016 Brazil’s first female president, Dilma Rousseff, was removed from power following a Senate vote in an impeachment proceeding that lasted 20 hours. She will then tried in the Senate on charges of fiscal irresponsibility. The country’s new interim president, Michel Temer, wasted no time on the next day in announcing his new cabinet. And they all had one thing in common: they were all men. Despite Brazil having 107 million women.

It brought us to the idea of giving ’shelter’ to these former female politicians as a symbol for female politicians worldwide and even more the lack of representations and participation of women in public life globally. A refuge, is in the literal sense of the word, not a place to hide, but a place to withdraw to become stronger, to connect with existential issues in the world.. all these brand new worlds, and rethink ‚new'.Therefore we want to create a shelter, a refuge, which we will call the WMN’S Parliament - Women’s Parliament.

A refuge, is in the literal sense of the word, not a place to hide, but a place to withdraw to become stronger, to connect with existential issues in the world.. All these brand new worlds, and rethink ‚new'.

‘Women's Parliament’, digital collage, Tuija Asta Järvenpää, 05-2016 .

WMN’S Parliament

The Brazilian female Ministers are our symbols, so we would like to ,invite’ them to our shelter. We will travel to Brazil, interview them and make a documentary film.

We will bring their voices to our ‚refuge’. With the filmed material we will make multimedia installations, salons and events. We will share their voices with the visitors.

In addition to the Brazilian Ministers, for the ‘WMN'S Parliament ‘we will interview female parliamentarians in Rwanda, Finland and EU and include their voices in the installation. Rwanda was the first country in the world that got more females in their parliament than male in 2008 and Finns were the first in the world to elect females in their parliament 1907. In Europe we often think we are doing so great but are we really doing so much better? Focussing on Brazil and Rwanda means offering a mirror into Europe.

The filmed interviews will be installed around a table togetehr with fictional and historical guest speakers. For example He-Yi Zhen (Chinese Anarchist and feminist ca. 1884-1920 ), Mai Zetterling ( Swedish film director, 1925-1994), Alexandra Kollontai, ( first Russian female Minister, 1872-1952), Marilyn Monroe or Daisy Duck. Our guests, the audience, are invited to be seated around the parliament table as well. The conference on: “Why are there less women in parliaments?” may begin. Together with our multidisciplinary team members we will create tools for the discussions during the events.

Saddie Choua and Tuija Asta Järvenpää at the National Congress of Brazil, 2018

Interviewing Exminister Izabella Teixeira. Saddie Choua, Izabella Teixeira and Tuija Asta Järvenpää, Brasilia,Brazil, 2018

IT TOOK PLACE ON THE BEACH UNDER THE SUN -performance / intervention with posters, concrete lion statue, glowing spraypaint in front of the sitting statue of the writer Rachel de Queiroz as guest artist of Festival Concreto, Fortaleza, Brazil, 2017

Filmstill: Tuija Asta Järvenpää, 2017

Intervention by Saddie Choua and Tuija Asta Järvenpää, Praça dos Leões, Festival Concreta, Fortaleza 2017

Filmposter Memories of Rachel de Queoros installed around Prace de Leoes

The Fatima Mernissi SessionsWMN'S Parliament' invited artists and intellectuals to meet the public in 'Fatima's Salon', Villa Empain, Brussels. The installation 'Fatima's Salon', Saddie Choua designed for the exhibition 'Of links and exiles' crated by Nadia Sabri.

Speakers: Professor Petra Van Brabandt (philosopher), Silvia Puccini (student at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Brussels), Saffina Rana (DJ/journalist), Sinem Yilmaz (European Network of Migrant Women), Corine Datema (graphic designer), Tuija Asta Järvenpää (WMN'S Parliament, artist), Samira Saleh (slam poet), Lazara Rosell Albear (artist, musician), Saddie Choua (WMN'S Parliament, artist) & Fatima Mernissi.

Salon de Fatima Mernissi, Villa Empain, Brussels, 2018 by Saddie Choua

A lecture by Fatima Mernissi -poster & gif

YOU ARE STANDING IN FRONT OF A 19TH CENTURY HALF TIMBERED HOUSE. A THICK LONG ROPE , TIED TO THE WINDOW FRAME DANGLES SOFTLY BACK AND FORT. LIKE HIM, SHE HAD A TASTE FOR THEATER. SHE STOOD AT THE STAGE DOOR; SHE WANTED TO ACT, SHE SAID.

gif by Corine Datema

A lecture by Frida Kahlo -poster

A SINGEL LEAF DETACHED ITSELF FROM THE PLANE TREE AT THE END OF THE STREET AND IN THAT PAUSE AND SUSPENSION FELL. SOMEHOW IT WAS LIKE A SIGNAL FALLING, SIGNAL POINTING TO A FORCE IN THINGS, WHICH ONE HAD OVERLOOKED