Nine Moons (2008)
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PROPOSAL - BACKGROUND - PROCESS - CONTENT - PARTICIPANTS
PROPOSAL
Nine Moons is a project created with the intention of motivating the dialogue between the Jewish, Muslim and Catholic cultures, and promoting greater proximity, respect and tolerance in the world.
It will consist of a meeting between nine women who belong to the above-mentioned cultures. Why women? Because within their creative roles, they have the potential to originate a new social space, in which prejudices are diminished, racism is reduced and a greater interest in communication and comprehension among cultures could result.
Nine Moons is a project of the Argentinean Psychologist and Journalist Anahi Rubin, with the participation of the Spanish Visual Artist Gema Alava, both of whom view this exhibition as an invitation to raise questions about multicultural relations.
Alava’s and Rubin’s projects have been presented primarily in the U.S. They have been endorsed by the Consulate General of Spain in New York, the University of New York, and have received support from Spanish Radio and Television, HITM (Hispanic Information Telecommunications Network), Diario ABC and El Pais – (of Spain), Europa Press and the New York Times, among others.
Rubin is a practicing psychologist in New York who has directed a number of exhibitions depicting the Hispanic Community: “Argentineans in New York”-1998, “Dominicans”-1999, “Spaniards in New York”-2002 and “Argentineans in New York”-2005.
Alava has exhibited at the Rana Museum of Norway, at the Queens Museum of Art, and her latest project, “A Dialogue”-2008, took place in the S.Guggenheim Museum of New York. Alava works in the Department of Education in the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA).
2007 and 2008 were years of conception for Nine Moons, and 2009 is the proposed year for the project to be presented. Ideally, the Opening would be held in November 2009.
After being displayed in Fundacion Tres Culturas (Three Cultures Foundation) in Seville, Spain, the exhibition would move on to other venues.
Presented by Gema Alava:
It was following September 11th when the feeling of vulnerability started affecting the work I was doing. That was the reason the fluttering bits of paper appeared in the pieces. Anahi mentioned that something similar was happening to her, she told me about her Nine Moons, and we started paying closer attention to the collective effort, to emotional support and to the foundations that many women have had to reinforce during these years in order to be able to move forward.
Both of us believe in the importance and the need for a dialogue between these three cultures that live together in New York. We believe in the strength of a good question and in encouraging tolerance by offering a model to follow. Learning occurs through questions, not answers.
As women, the image of the woman as creator appeals to us. Nine Moons is a song to life for all those who are willing to hear.
Description of the three installations and the video.
Installation titles: Tell me a Story I, Tell me a Story II, Tell me a Story III
Materials: paper, ink and pins.
Dimensions: variable.
Description: three circles made from bits of paper pinned to the wall.
Each circle consists of fragments of torn letters, written in Arabic, Spanish, and Hebrew. The content of the letters would be written responses to one question presenting the idea of prejudice.
The nine women participating in this installation are the ones that are filmed in Anahi’s video. This video will have two stages: the first – individual interviews, in which each participant describes her relationship to the culture to which she belongs; and the second - a meeting where they would share their personal perspectives, pivoting around the idea of multiculturalism.
INSTITUTIONS TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS PROJECT
Fundacion Tres Culturas (Three Cultures Foundation)
The Gabarron Foundation Carriage House Center for the Arts
Consulate General of Spain in New York
Raul Wallenberg Foundation
Cervantes Institute
La Caixa Cultural Foundation
Pamar (Pan American Musical Art Research)
ARTISTS’ WEBSITES
www.anahirubin.com
www.gemaalava.com