PHARMAKOS
ADORNMENT AS A SOCIAL TOOL
by Vivi Touloumidi
Vivi Touloumidi investigates adornment as an active agent to address social discomfort, repression, and marginalization in the public realm. Her project appropriates and subverts signs of stigmatization employed during WWII, and through in-depth research, it proposes anew statement pieces that speak of resilience, emancipation, and self-determination of the social body. The publication includes a substantial selection of bureaucratic files of that time, which have served as reference for the work. Along with images of the making process and two bodies of work in dialogue with drawings, texts contextualise the references and the creative process in different tones and formats, from an academic essay, to a long dialogue and a poem.
This publication is part of the PhD research 'Pharmakos' conducted at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp, the University of Antwerp & ARIA (Antwerp Research Institute for the Arts).
Texts: Sarah Kleinmann, Vincent Van Meenen, Roschanack Shaery-Yazdi, Vivi Touloumidi, Pascal Gielen
Book concept: Nico Dockx
Graphic design: Nico Dockx, Wouter Van der Wangen
Printing: Bruno Devos, Stockmans Art Books
Images:Vivi Touloumidi, Thomas Chousos, Nazi Forced Labor Documentation Center Berlin-Schöneweide, DHM Berlin, Bundesarchiv Berlin, Archive of Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site, Deutsche Uniformen Zeitschrift, Ravensbrück Women’s Concentration Camp, Helmut Weitze Militärische Antiquitäten KG
Edition: 300
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