#allthefridas: Eine Ode für die neue Generation Frau
„There is a new generation of young women that go with their guts, speak out, dare, ask, and sometimes answer. They remind of an urgency to create new faces, new identities, new imagery, new stories, new relationships because they don’t relate to the stereotypes of today’s society.“
– Dana Tomoș
Was bedeutet es in unserer heutigen Gesellschaft eine Frau zu sein? Das Streben nach Perfektion und ständiger Optimierung? Was ist überhaupt Identität? Nun ja, dieses Thema begleitet mich seit einer Weile. Durch Zufall bin ich auf ein Projekt einer Künstlerin gestoßen, die sich zum Ziel setzte Frauen verschiedener Nationen, Sprachen als auch Interessen zu treffen und mit ihnen über Ängste, Vorbilder, Komfortzonen als auch über Frauen unserer heutigen Zeit zu sprechen. Frauen, die so sind wie du und ich, die nicht unbedingt bestimmten Stereotypen unserer heutigen Gesellschaft angehören möchten, aber auch Frauen, die einfach gerne etwas bewegen würden. Nicht ohne Grund sagt Dana Tomoș, dass es da draußen eine neue Generation von Frauen gibt. Frauen, die an Frida Kahlo erinnern. Denn in jedem steckt wohl eine kleine Frida. Welche Frauen das sind? Das seht ihr in ihren inspirierenden Kurzfilmen, die ich für euch hier verlinkt habe. Da mich das Projekt #allthefridas sehr bewegte, habe ich außerdem ein kleines Interview mit Dana geführt, das ihr im Verlauf des Artikels lesen könnt. Viel Spaß <3
#allthefridas is an ode to the young and reckless, to the bold and the beautiful, to girlhood and womanhood“. What is your personal connection to this project?
The beginning of #allthefridas was rather selfish, because it was more of a self-discovery need that triggered it. I was so thirsty and I wasn’t able to identify myself with any of the patterns I was exposed to. Until I understood that my girlfriends deal with the same craving. That there’s a need to share and show a wider range of identities and ways to do stuff. I initiated these collaborations to make something productive out of our hangouts and to slowly build up a network – you can see that the first 5 videos are more artistic and more complex. Later the concept changed and led to the one minute conversations that they are now.
What is your personal definition for a young but strong woman in our society?
I don’t have a definition. I think all this defining and labelling has become our downfall. I believe in being present and conscious about yourself and about what and whom is around you and in reacting to that in your own way.
It seems that beauty and self-optimization are very important aspects of success in our society. There are more and more articles about „how to optimize your work“, ads with beautiful skinny models and bloggers with unreal Instagram feeds, which put pressure on young women to be pretty, to be perfect. How do you feel about this?
This is a complex conversation. I think that everybody regardless their gender is under this pressure to perform and be at their best. All these visual standards and ‘how to’s are simply misleading. A lot of people are not aware of the fake-ness of this online imagery. So the ones who are awake, have the responsibility to put new information out there, to create diversity. There is definitely an urgency to create new faces, new identities, new images, new stories, new relationships because the stereotypes of today’s society are not relatable enough any more. If you don’t find a suitable model, become one.
Your project reflects „a new generation of young women who go with their guts, speak out, ask and sometimes answer“. Where did you find such inspiring women?
I am happy and thankful that these inspiring women are close friends and cool women that I’ve met over the years and hit it off and kept in touch somehow. I mean, I know a lot of amazing girls, but with #allthefridas is always a matter of timing and synchronising mindsets, if you like. This is what makes the project so personal and exciting for me, the fact that it is always about a moment or a conversation in the present.
One girl talked about „more freedom“. What means freedom for you personally?
Ahh ‘more freedom’. For me freedom goes hand in hand with living without fear. And this one has so many levels and nuances according to the moment I am in life.
If you would be one of the women in your videos. What would you talking about? What would you like to tell the world?
There are plenty of things that get me excited or angry and make me wanna rebel against, so I guess it depends on the moment I’m at. These days I was thinking a lot about how setbacks bring you forward. About how setbacks feel like mirrors aggressively pushed in your face. Like a Clockwork Orange scene, you know? It’s up to you what you make out of them, really. That next step, that sets you free for a little while. Because it’s freedom that we are all hanging to, right? Living without fear, loving, having fun. So we need clarity to make that next choice. And that’s what mirrors are good for. And that’s what setbacks are good for: to readjust, to move forward and grow and shine and make ourselves and the world better somehow.
Is there one video or message you like the most? Why?
I love each video for different reasons, simply because of the people and the moments that they represent. It’s like everything is a growing up and learning process, so it’s hard to choose one message over the other. Of course, the first video with Moshtari Hilal is very special, because it’s how it all started. The feedback was so unexpected and inspiring. And having Yasmine Hamdan on board was like a tap on the back. It made sense to continue.
There are so many strong women out there who you could capture in your videos. Is this a never ending project? Do you plan to capture more Fridas?
Yes, this is an on going project and part of something more complex. I want #allthefridas to become a database of portraits. I’m interested in how girls and women in less visible areas find alternative ways of expression when they don’t follow the patterns of the social norms they are part of. Authenticity is our norm. It’s how you said, there are so many voices and faces out there to be captured. It all becomes a matter of travelling and personal encounters.
Thank you Dana for the inspiring thoughts you shared with us
Wenn ihr genauso wie ich von Danas Projekt #allthefridas begeistert seid, schaut doch gerne auf ihrer Homepage oder bei Vimeo vorbei. Dort wird sie auch in Zukunft weitere Portraits inspirierender Frauen vorstellen.
geschrieben von Mary
Dana Tomoş
http://cargocollective.com/dntomos
https://www.instagram.com/dntomos/
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