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GLASGOW INTERNATIONAL
manager Adele Patrick explains, My Bookcase’s presence has invigorated the library’s role in the community by bringing people and artists together. k explains My Bookcase’s presence has invigo
‘Every time Cristina visits the library we see things in a different way or from a new angle,’ states Patrick. ‘That’s why artists have always been essential to the development of this library. As a passionate bibliophile, she has ambitions to create something that brings people and books together in one space.’
‘We’ve had over 30 donations already,’ Garriga explains. ‘We invited artists participating in Glasgow International to recommend books by women that had an impact on their lives or practice. By making this catalogue available to the public we’re creating an alternative narrative about what’s important, independent of institutions or anything else.’
Like Val, Patrick feels women’s literary works have often been overshadowed by those produced by male counterparts. ‘What we’re interested in is the reading that has been important to individuals,’ says Patrick. ‘Which books by women have had an impact on the lives of Cristina, Catrine, me or other creatives. It’s important because I think we do unconsciously erase those titles from our collective memory.’ As an artist participating in Glasgow International, Val pledges to donate a book to the Speaking Volumes project. Her chosen text, of course, is by a female philosopher: Hannah Arendt. Val explains that Arendt’s thinking underpinned much of the work of world-renowned philosopher Martin Heidegger, but he never once acknowledged Arendt’s inl uence. True or not, it’s impossible to deny history has always favoured the male half in heterosexual affairs between artists or academics.
Simone de Beauvoir, though well known, doesn’t enjoy the same infamy as Jean- Paul Sartre, and while she may have eschewed the grandiose label ‘philosopher’, her impact in that i eld continues to be felt. ‘There can’t be a more inl uential thinker in terms of the impact on daily life,’ insists Patrick. ‘If we think about the seismic impact of feminism on all of us, she has been critical. It’s not a term you can claim easily, whether it’s artist, writer or philosopher. I think if we think about what philosophers do – forcing new perspectives, making strange the things that are otherwise normative – many creatives could claim to be doing that. It’s unusual for women to make bold claims about having this huge impact, but it is beginning to happen.’
In Val’s experience, women in philosophy have either shied away or been prevented from making it to the top. ‘When I was in Taiwan for example, there wasn’t a single female studying for a professorship. Not one! There are female philosophers out there, but they are mostly invisible. I want to help give a voice to those women.’ Patrick has high hopes for the future and a progression towards a more level playing i eld. ‘I would love it if someone were to ask that question “what would a philosopher or a Scottish philosopher look like?” and they could answer “a black woman”. That would be fantastic.’
My Bookcase: Speaking Volumes, Glasgow Women’s Library, Fri 8 Apr–Mon 25 Apr Catrine Val: Political Letters, Street Level Photoworks, Glasgow, Fri 8 Apr– Sun 29 May.
38 THE LIST 7 Apr–2 Jun 2016