Join us on 25 June, between 17:00—18:30, at Domo for the artist talk "The Right to Abstraction" featuring multidisciplinary (film)maker, journalist, writer, community organiser, and former Supervisory Board member Clarice Gargard in conversation with interdisciplinary creative, experiential designer, transmedia storyteller, and 2025 Seed Awardee Tala Abdalhadi.
Cover image: courtesy of Tala Abdalhadi.
Why is abstraction treated as a luxury rather than a necessity? For artists whose identities are marked as "other"—particularly women of colour—creative work is frequently expected to be legible, political, autobiographical, and explicitly tied to experiences of oppression. The pressure to explain, represent, or educate can shape not only how art is received, but what kinds of art are considered valuable or relevant in the first place.
This conversation explores what it means to make abstract work in a world that often demands clear narratives and recognisable messages.
Featuring
Can art be suggestive rather than declarative? Ambiguous rather than illustrative? What possibilities emerge when artists resist expectations of visibility, representation, and readability?
Clarice and Tala will consider abstraction as a mode of freedom, experimentation, and complexity. The discussion will examine how artists navigate cultural expectations, audience assumptions, and institutional frameworks while claiming space for work that does not always explain itself.
