NIRBHAYA — Monika Weiss
Dafne (for Nirbhaya) 2020 | Excerpt | Duration: 12:45 | Color, sound. Written, directed, filmed, edited, movement choreographed, music performed and composed by the artist. Movement performer: Melissa Gollance.
Dafne (for Nirbhaya) is a series of film and sound compositions as well as large-scale drawings created in relation to the forthcoming monument, Nirbhaya.
NIRBHAYA
2021-
Cast concrete, fiberglass, water, 4K digital film projection, sound station.
Sculpture dimensions: 71 x 221 x 35 inches
The monument Nirbhaya is named after Jyoti Singh, aka ‘Nirbhaya’, who was raped and killed in at the age of 23 in New Delhi in 2012. It is a memorial not for conquerors and war heroes but for forgotten victims of everyday violence.
ABOVE: As part of the inaugural EMA SESSIONS Artist in Residence Program, EMA interviews artist Monika Weiss about her forthcoming monument project Nirbhaya. The artist has worked with EMA researchers to create her permanent outdoor ambisonic sound installation Metamorphosis (Nirbhaya) based on the artist’s piano improvisations, which will be installed as part of the collection and park of The Center for Polish Sculpture in Oronsko, Poland, and part of the Nirbhaya monument.
Two permanent outdoor sister monuments are planned in Poland and in US. The Center of Polish Sculpture in Orońsko—a national cultural institution financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of Poland—is organizing the first permanent version of Nirbhaya in the national sculpture park. US location for Nirbhaya is organized in cooperation with Streaming Museum, New York, and will be announced. In 2021 two solo exhibitions focusing on the Nirbhaya monument took place: Monika Weiss: Nirbhaya at the Center for Polish Sculpture in Oronsko, March 27 - July 15, 2021 and Monika Weiss: Monument | Anti-Monument at CEL The Center for Architecture and Design STL, March 31- April 22, 2021.
MONUMENT | ANTI-MONUMENT SYMPOSIUM INSPIRED BY MONIKA WEISS’ NIRBHAYA
Six international virtual panel discussions inspired by the work of Monika Weiss and her paradigm shifting monument | anti-monument project Nirbhaya, where moderated by Rick Bell and organized by the Center for Architecture + Design St. Louis. The symposium included artists, architects, historians and activists who debated the role of monuments and commemorative design in shaping cultural identity. Invited speakers included: Michael Arad, Lans Jay Brown, Nina Colosi, Chip Crawford, Eulalia Domanowska, Weronika Elertowska, Wendy Evans Joseph, Katarzyna Falęcka, Vanessa Gravenor, Percy Green, Marianne Hirsch, Lynne Jackson, Walter Johnson, David Lelyveld, Mark McDonald, Tyler Meyr, Gwen Moore, Eric Mumford, Verity Platt, Griselda Pollock, Leila Sadat, Kamala Sankaram, Buzz Spector, Julia Walker, Krzysztof Wodiczko, James E. Young. All panels were recoded and will be published online in Fall, 2021.
The Nirbhaya monument technology and production has received generous support from the Lamar Johnson Collaborative, Chicago/St. Louis and the Experimental Media Arts (EMA) at the University of Arkansas. Technical supervision by Adam Hogan and Laura Stayton.
The Nirbhaya monument by Monika Weiss is featured in the current issue of Centerpoint Now, the publication of the World Council of Peoples for the United Nations (WCPUN), produced in collaboration with Streaming Museum, that highlights issues on the agenda of the international community and marks 75th Anniversary of the United Nations.
NYFA has generously offered fiscal sponsorship supporting the fundraising campaign for Nirbhaya internationally:
A bi-lingual (English/Polish) publication Monika Weiss - Nirbhaya was published by the Centre for Polish Sculpture in Orońsko Press, with texts by Griselda Pollock, Mark McDonald, Meena Alexander, Kalliopi Minioudaki, Buzz Spector, Eulalia Domanowska, Weronika Elertowska, Katarzyna Falęcka, and Maciej Aleksandrowicz. Editors: Halina Gajewska, Barry Keane. Translation: Izabela Suchan. Book design: Irina Pavlova. Financed with the support of the Ministry of Culture, National Heritage and Sports, the Embassy of the United States of America in Warsaw, and Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, Washington University in St. Louis.