Sahara Chronicles – Screening and Discussion with Ursula Biemann, Feb 23, 3:30-5:30 pm

“Sahara Chronicle (2006-2007) is a collection of short videos documenting the present sub-Saharan exodus towards Europe. The piece examines the politics of mobility and containment which lies at the heart of the current global geopolitics and takes a close look at the modalities and logistics of the migration system in the ever-expanding North African border zone. The material was gathered during fieldtrips to the major gates and nodes of the trans-Saharan migration network in Morocco, Niger, and Mauritania.”

Sahara Chronicle will also be on exhibition at the SFAI from February 24: http://www.waltermcbean.com/future.shtml

Zurich-based artist, theorist, and curator Ursula Biemann interrogates in her video-essays how migration and technologies of mobility are reshaping our world. In videos such as Performing the Border (1999), Remote Sensing (2001), and Europlex (2003), she exposes the gendered dimension of migrant labor and the precarious position of global sex workers. Black Sea Files (2005) explores the sociopolitical and cultural effects of the transnational oil pipeline from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean. Biemann is the author and editor of the books Been There and Back to Nowhere: On Gender in Transnational Spaces (2000), Geography and the Politics of Mobility (2003), Stuff It: The Video Essay in the Digital Age (2003), and Mission Reports (2008). For more information visit the website: http://www.geobodies.org/

Presented by the Multicultural Germany / Transnational Europe Project