Modativismo: práticas feministas e antirracistas em processos criativos decoloniais

Abstract

Composing an analysis of the relations between Fashion and Activism, based on the theories of the Feminist and Gender Studies, Race Relations and Racism and studies on Creative Processes and Fashion Design Methodologies, I present in this research, a debate and records of the process of construction of Modativismo concept. I elaborate these reflections from theoretical and practical experiments, undertaken in the creation of fashion collections, national and international fashion shows and exhibitions, of my own, which comprised the artistic residencies inserted in the course of this research, between the years 2015 to 2019. In the elaboration of the theoretical scope that guides the proposal of Modativismo, I recognize that theory and practice are inseparable and thus, I propose a thinking about the processes of creation, development and production of fashion collections and other artistic products, from the perspective of feminist and anti-racist practices, composing a Decolonial proposal (CURIEL, 2010) both from our experiences, as well as from the ways of production of scientific knowledge and artistic practices. With no precedents of reference to produce an academic endeacity that could converge to the analyses of my creative processes - as a theoretical-political-methodological field of knowledge production - I adopted references of the Cartographic Method (DELEUZE & GUATTARI, 1995), Cultural Studies (HALL, 2009), Gender Studies and Feminisms (SCOTT, 1995), under the perspective from Intersectional Black Feminism (GONZALEZ, 1984; CRENSHAW, 2000) Studies on Decoloniality (CURIEL, 2010), Studies on Race and Racism (KILOMBA, 2019), Studies on Language and Critical Discourse Analysis (FAIRGLOUGH, 2001), Fashion Theory (CIDREIRA, 2005) and Design Methodology (MUNARI, 1998), as fields addressed not as a reference of an objective debate, but related to the theoretical bases that configure a mainstay to the way of construction of thought for the production of a 'Located Knowledge' (HARAWAY, 1995). Translated into horizontal practices of sharing knowledge, for understanding as inseparable the personal, professional and political views, recording through this writing the elaboration of an autoethnography (FORTIN, 2000). In the second part of the text, I present the stage of the Arts Research, as a Poetic Cartography (ROLNIK, 2006), which is made from the experience understood as a kind of knowledge creation. Furthermore, based on the understanding of how much the language we choose is the most expressive of our position of imagined power, then of our positionality, I also directed myself to the challenge of creative, performative writing, based on the reference of the Living-Writings (EVARISTO, 2017). This is the map of an insurgent action, through which I present reflections about my personal and artistic trajectory, in the creative laboratories and artistic residencies that integrated this research, together with the collaboration with other black artists, undertaking the debates about how our life trajectory and our positionality affects our creations, in order to tie artistic productions to our political issues.