to act in history

2-channel video installation, 2 x 21:42’, DV PAL

In the dual channel video installation to act in history, Sandra Schäfer combines rare material from the photo archives of the historian Nancy Hatch Duprée and the Williams Afghan Media Project with her own footage, collected from multiple research trips to Afghanistan between 2002 and 2008.

The installation reflects the creative process behind her film Passing the Rainbow that was made in Kabul and the reception of the film in Kabul and Berlin. It also traces the representation of women in Afghanistan through historical images. Each photograph marks a specific gesture, accessory or action that crosses gender relations. I interwove the selection of photos from the 1910s, 20s and 60s with recordings from my filming for the film Passing the Rainbow.

5. Fotofestival, Heidelberger Kunstverein, Battleground Afghanistan, 2013

Working Documents, La Virreina Centre de la Imatge, Barcelona 2008-09