Line 71–17

Presented inside Pipilotti Rist’s Monochrome Rose, exceptionally made available for the occasion, the project Line 71–17 by the association Les Indociles reflects on the history of Geneva’s feminist movements from 1971 to 2017. Archival documents from the 1970s and 1980s retrace both key events and everyday moments of these feminist protest movements, which consistently challenged spaces of masculine domination — often with humor. Posters, flyers, stickers, slogans, publications, and photographs testify to some of the struggles carried out by the working groups that formed the Geneva Women’s Liberation Movement (MLF).

In 1971, after decades of struggle, Swiss women obtained the right to vote. That same year, the Geneva MLF grew in strength, organizing around issues such as the right to abortion, gynecological techniques, the “double burden” of work and home, maternity, and sexualities. In 2017, what perspective can we take on these struggles? Why still be a feminist?

Curation: Hélène Bessero-Belti, Emilie Bender, Djemila Carron, Julia Taramarcaz, Eléonore Varone

All images come from the Geneva Protest Archives (Archives Contestataires de Genève). They were selected and brought together specifically for this project, and represent only a small part of the extensive MLF–Geneva collection.

This project was part of the 2017 Festival Les Créatives. We warmly thank Pipilotti Rist for giving her consent to use her installation as the setting for this project, which remains entirely independent of her work.

Les Indociles

The association Les Indociles aimed to combat all forms of discrimination by organizing cultural and artistic events as well as political actions. It understood indocility as a refusal of submission, a form of social disobedience, and an independence from the legal and social norms that shape society. Bringing together the skills of professionals from different fields, Les Indociles worked toward a more egalitarian society, free of all relations of domination.

Photos © Laura Parisotto