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To Be Seen & Unseen

Performance

San Diego Central Library Art Gallery, San Diego, California 2020 Mesa Art Gallery, San Diego, California 2019 Mare Culturale Urbano, Milan, Italy 2018 Museion Atelier, Bolzano, South Tyrol 2018 Teatro La Compagnia, Florence, Italy 2017

Two women with long dark hair, one wearing a dark sleeveless dress and the other a light-colored jacket, looking at a construction site with a wire fence and a sign that says 'GRAZIE NON CARRELLI'.

Two women dressed in stylish clothing standing and talking outside in front of a modern building with large glass windows and yellow architectural panels.

Two people walking down a city sidewalk, one in a dark outfit and one in a light outfit, near modern buildings and a large leafy bush.

Clothing rack with two hanging garments: a cream-colored sheer blouse and a black sleeveless top, set in a simple room with a wood floor and white wall.

Two people stand on stage dressed in long black and white garments, wearing masks that cover their faces, in front of a brick wall with a metal truss above them.

What if you could exist in the world without being directly subjected to the gaze of others?

Through various theatrical modes, this performance challenges concepts of exposure, empowerment, and in/visibility. You will be invited to take a journey with a performer. You will be invited to wear a costume, a traveler’s garment and a mask. Inspired by masks used in Venetian culture, this mask will relieve you from social conventions and markers of identity. Along the way, we may share moments of silence, engage with others, or simply converse with each other. At the end of the performance participants will be invited to write their reflections on the costume they wore.

To Be Seen & Unseen is a performance that challenges the control and surveillance of female bodies. It premiered at the 24th Iranian Women’s Studies Conference in Florence, Italy. The performance was also presented at the opening of Akt III ich/io/me at Museion Atelier in Bolzano, South Tyrol. This was part of a group exhibition called 1+1=3, curated by Elisa Barison and supported by GLURNS ART POINT. To Be Seen & Unseen was commissioned by Mare Culturale Urbano in Milan, Italy. The performance and installation was included in the group show, Subterranean at Mesa Art Gallery in San Diego. The costumes, set, and videos for To Be Seen & Unseen were featured in the group exhibition Fear No Art: Civic Engagement, Histories, Currencies, curated by Dr. Lara Bullock at San Diego Central Library Art Gallery. Guests read writings from previous performances aloud in Farsi, German, Italian, Spanish, and English.

Costumes by Kristina Foley

Masks by Anna Rose