Feminist Border Arts 2024
Join us in exploring the intersections of social change through film/video, media art, and zines this June 28-29 at the University Art Museum at New Mexico State University, international Pride Day weekend. Join our collective quest for transformative narratives—free and open to the public. Your space in this movement awaits. Check out the 2024 press release.
Featured In-Person Artists:
- Allyson Mitchell - Featured Media Artist: Engage with the "uncanny" world of queer feminist media and craft through Mitchell's exciting work, including the iconic "Ladies Sasquatch" and the immersive "Kill Joy's Kastle." An advocate for using art as a form of social critique, Mitchell's installations invite viewers into a conversation on gender, sexuality, and identity, challenging social norms with her maximalist style. Join us in person as Mitchell discusses her creative journey, blending sculpture, installation, and film to formulate new narratives in contemporary media arts and culture. Instagram.
- Perrin Ireland - Featured Media Arts and Video Storyteller: Enter the fascinating intersection of art and science with Ireland, a visual storyteller who brings complex science events to life through a combination of research and creative expression in media arts and digital storytelling. From illustrating marine biology research at Brown University to creating impactful watercolor animations for the Natural Resources Defense Council, Ireland’s work bridges the gap between scientific insight and artistic expression. Join us in person as Ireland shares her journey and insights, offering new perspectives on storytelling at the nexus of art, science, gender & sexuality studies, and environmental advocacy. Instagram.
- Ryan Rox - Featured Filmmaker and New Mexico Premiere: Dive headfirst into a world crafted through Borderlands Latine nonbinary, trans, and queer storytelling with Rox's groundbreaking full-length feature debut, Hidden Flora, marking a significant milestone in regional filmmaking. Join Ryan and the film's cast for a live Q&A and reception following the screening.
- Julia Smith - Featured Filmmaker and Interdisciplaanry Scholar: Smith's in process documentry traces the evolution of Westerns from 1965-1979 beginning with Orville Wanzer’s acid Western “The Devil’s Mistress.” When Wanzer moved to Southern New Mexico he was inspired by the desert landscape and set to writing a script. The Devil’s Mistress, originally titled El Bruja (the witch) premiered nationally in 1965 and was the first feature made in the city of Las Cruces, NM.
- Juan "Ricky" Araiza - Featured Media Artist in Graphic Memoir. Araiza is a zine maker who incorprates his visual expression into his pieces. He is also the editor of Ventanas, Spanish for “windows,” made by horror fans for horror fans looking to center marginalize voices, authors, narratives, perspectives, and imaginations through various creative forms of expressions both academic and artistic. It is a southwestern publication made up of horror fans looking to legitimize the genre as a “window” that allows us to view, express, and reflect upon our societal fears and anxieties.
- Jillian Sandell - Featured Media Artist in Graphic Memoir: During cancer treatment in 2016, she was inspired by Lynda Barry’s daily journal activity and began drawing as a way to process her experiences. Before becoming an artist, Jillian taught gender studies for two decades and her work is shaped by a feminist sensibility – focusing on the politics of everyday life, including the aftermath of cancer treatment, living in the desert, environmental and food justice, grief, and love.
- Jaimie Lee Peterson - Featured Media Artist in Graphic Memoir: Peterson is an art therapist, educator, artist, and graphic memoirist in Hunt, TX. She has a BFA in Painting from Art Institute Kansas City and MAAT from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
- Lisa Y. Méndez, Uno Foto Art, is a photographer, collagist, zinester, and independent public artist. An alumna of NMSU's Art and Gender & Sexuality Studies (then Women’s Studies), Lisa donated over 40 zines to the FBA zine collection in February 2022 on behalf of their Uno Foto Mobile Zine Library. Lisa describes their art as "a creative force that makes no apologies for what they have created in the past or what they will create in the future." To learn more, check out @unofotoart on Instagram.
Collaborating Scholars
- Dr. Carol W.N. Fadda - Featured Scholar in Arab and Muslim American Studies, American Studies, critical race and ethnic studies, and transnational studies: Fadda is an Associate Professor in English and Women's and Gender Studies at Syracus University. Her scholarship employs feminist, anti-assimilationist, and transnational modes of Arab American and Muslim American belonging that contest the conceived boundaries of the US nation-state and transform hegemonic forms of national membership and citizenship. Dr. Fadda's focus will be on the short work examining Arab and Arab-Muslim transnational experience.
- Dr. Vanessa J. Aguilar - Featured Scholar in Speculative fiction, Bruja/Conjure Feminisms, Chicanx/Latinx Knowledge Production: Dr. Aguilar’s interdisciplinary background informs her approach to research and pedagogy. Her primary research centers on Chicanx/Latinx knowledge production in literature. Her role as co-curator for this year's festival draws on her multilayered expertise in South American, speculative, anti-colonial, and indigenous creative expressions. Dr. Amanda Cuellar, a film scholar at Doña Ana Community College, will be joining Dr. Aguilar in this collaboration.
- Dr. Héctor Iglesias Pascual - Featured Scholar in Transnational LGBTQ+ Film and Media: Dr. Pascual's role as a co-curator focusing on transnational LGBTQ+ migration and experiences in film and media, with a particular expertise in documentary filmmaking, adds a critical and insightful dimension to the festival. His work will feature emerging Venezuelan filmmaker, Maria Millan and her documentary on global queer parenting as well as Iranian-Canadian filmmakaer, Abbas Mohammadi Gilvaei's digital storytelling piece on LGBTQ+ personality Shahab Shiri.
The festival will also feature a concurrent zine fest on day 2, June 29, showcasing a variety of creative publications alongside film screenings.
Zine Fest:
- Workshop: Participate in a hands-on media arts learning experience with UAM's OutsmART, an interactive workshop exploring the power of art to impact children’s everyday lives. The festival workshop will explore the concept of movies without cameras: Paper Zoetropes.
- Panels: Join practitioners for engaging discussions. Explore the transformative roles that art and media play in shaping public consciousness and social movements.
- Tabling: Discover an array of zines and related media. Engage directly with creators, get to know their work, and take home a piece of the festival.
In addition to these highlighted projects, FBAFF 2024 will also feature curated programs of both U.S. and international short films, alongside a selection of feature films, further showcasing our commitment to a broad spectrum of perspectives and narratives. Check out the screening, speaker, and workshop schedule at this link.
Join us at 2024 FBA Film & Zine Fest -- Be a part of the experience – Be part of the change.
