Report from the symposium FACES: 20 Years from Oct 13–15, 2017 by Marina Gržinić
The online mailing list FACES was launched in 1997 by women that represent shifting political geographies: Kathy Rae Huffman (US citizen in Vienna), Diana McCarty (US citizen in Budapest), Valie Djordjevic (German citizen of Yugoslav descendent, based in Berlin). As Diana McCarty states this provided an important East/West geographical linkage. Finally the project was inaugurated in Vienna at a Face Settings dinner in 1997 (participants included Diana McCarty, Kathy Rae Huffman and Margarete Jahrmann).
The email list and platform bring together and connect media artists, activists, digital researchers and cyber-entities identifying as women. In 2017 we celebrated FACES’ 20th anniversary from 13 to 15 October 2017 at Schaumbad, a self-organized collective with ateliers and an exhibition space, in Graz, Austria. We (approx. 50 of us in person) celebrated FACES with an exhibition, performances, screenings and a symposium: on art, gender and technology. The gathering in Graz was largely a self-organized event, made possible by Eva Ursprung, a member of Schaumbad and also one of the core members of FACES. Ursprung worked closely with another key figure and founder of FACES, Kathy Rae Huffman. Together they curated the exhibition and envisioned the whole event with support from three other key figures of FACES: Valie Djordjevic, Diana McCarty, and Ushi Reiter. Continue reading “FACES: 20 Years of Interactions, Connections and Collaborations”