PCA Talks Presents: Laia Abril

Join us for an online meeting on March 16, 2021 to meet with Laia Abril, a multidisciplinary artist from Spain.

“With the rise of the #MeToo movement, I wanted to understand why some institutional structures of justice, law and policy were not only failing survivors, but actually encouraging perpetrators by preserving particular power dynamics and social norms. ” – Laia Abril, about her project ‘On Rape’

After graduating from college with a degree in Journalism, Laia Abril moved to New York to attend Photography courses at the ICP. There, she decided to focus on telling intimate stories that raise uneasy and hidden realities in relation to sexuality, eating disorders and gender equality. Abril’s projects are produced across platforms, such as installations, books, web docs, and films.

Laia Abril’s long-term project ‘A History of Misogyny’ is a visual research undertaken through historical and contemporary comparisons. In 2017, she completed the first chapter of this project, that she called ‘On abortion’, with a book and several exhibitions.

In the second chapter of her project, ‘On Rape’, Abril focuses on institutional rape through a series of conceptual portraits that, together with testimonials, depict the different systemic rape cultures. In this project, Abril uses history to track back the origins of laws and beliefs. This includes legislation that forces the victims to marry their rapists, rape used as a weapon of war, the fake construction of virginity and the genesis of rape schedule, which makes women reconsider their daily routines in order to protect themselves from potential harm. In a society that teaches ‘”don’t get raped” instead of “don’t rape”, the cultural beliefs about sexual assault lead to victim-blaming attitudes and perceptions.

Through this research journey, Abril invites audiences to experience her reactions in the form of audio, textual and visual installations.

View her work on her website.