Listen back to Josée Pednault's talk on her series 'Badda means the Sea', recorded at the Street Level Photoworks exhibition opening, 22nd September 2018.
Street LevelNovember 14, 2018
Anonymous. Vieques photo archives. The history of Vieques ever since Spanish colonization is a history of struggle and resistance. Located off the coast of Puerto Rico in the Caribbean, Vieques is one of the United States unincorporated territory, a status vague enough as to open the door for colonial-type of abuses. As a matter of fact, in 1945, the US…
Mohammed and Rago undertook a partial translation of the book "From Dictatorship to Democracy" in Amharic and Arabic. A second meeting of the workshop « Other Libraries » took place at the CCA with a wonderful group of international participants, mostly coming from East Africa and the Middle East, who are currently seeking asylum in the UK. We were using flatbed scanners…
Josée PedneaultAugust 26, 2017
Being isolated, the St. Kildan islanders developed a unique way to get messages to the mainland. They would craft a small boat-shape device inside which they could place a letter. The boat was sealed using lead-based paste, and attached to a buoy made out of a sheep stomach or other floating device. They would launch the apparatus into the sea,…
Josée PedneaultAugust 25, 2017
From "St. Kilda - The Lonely Islands", Christopher Mylne, 1967 St. Kildans were very much dependent on birds for survival. They developed specialized techniques and skills to go up the cliffs to collect eggs and hunt birds. The cliffs where birds would nest were divided among the different families so that everyone would get a fair share of the natural resources.…
Josée PedneaultAugust 24, 2017
Small islands are usually vulnerable territories as the population most often don't have enough political leverage to fight against powerful governmental structures, making them easy targets. In May 2017, alongside a Taiwanese friend, I visited Lanyu Island in Taiwan, also known as Orchid Island, or Ponso No Tao. It is the land of the Tao, a traditionally self-sufficient aboriginal culture…
Josée PedneaultAugust 23, 2017
Today I spent the day scanning negatives from an earlier trip to Taiwan last May. I rarely take photographs specifically for a project. I work by collecting and accumulating images that I take or collect from the Internet, archives or other sources. I usually don't feel the need to stay true to the time, the location, the context or even…
Josée PedneaultAugust 22, 2017
The NASA TV streaming site kept crashing, allowing for another kind of intergalactic experience. / Le site de la NASA TV tombait constamment donnant lieu à un autre genre de voyage intergalactique. Monday was the day of the total solar eclipse crossing through the United States. Being in Glasgow, I was nowhere near the path of the event, but…
Josée PedneaultAugust 21, 2017
EVACUATION OF ST. KILDA, 1930, John P. Ritchie As I was searching in the Moving Image Archive of the National Library of Scotland, I stubble upon a rare film by John P. Ritchie showing life on St. Kilda, the collect of eggs on rocky cliffs, and images of the evacuation of the island. The evacuation was kept secret until 1979,…
Josée PedneaultAugust 20, 2017
Nasir drawing a five finger tree / Nasir dessinant un arbre à cinq doigt. Every Saturday for three weeks, I participate as a volunteer in a workshop for asylum seekers organized by Sukaina (day 3) at the Center for Contemporary Arts of Glasgow. The workshop is around books and libraries and is thus conducive for sharing stories and memories.…
Josée PedneaultAugust 19, 2017
