Survival Praxis (2020)

• 77%
• 2020
• Natacha Voliakovsky

I covered my face with Micropore tape, emulating a mask to protect myself from the virus. I was stirring it slowly to find my mouth. Inside my mouth I had hidden my green scarf, a symbol of the feminist struggle in Argentina. I slowly removed if form my mouth and tied it again making a protective mask. The urgent circumstance in which we are inmersed forces us into a collective state of silence. The mask then has a double function: to protect against the virus and to silence. Similarly imposed isolation and enclosure as the only possible defense against the 'enemy' works. The vulnerability of women in Argentina has not been modified by isolation. For those in situations of violence, this means to be in constant contact with the real enemy with no way of escape. In this context what is supposed to protect them works against them, and makes the mask worthless. Feminist struggle is then the only way out.