#mahletcuff

CH: Can you speak to how the project got started and why you were interested in this work?

MC: The idea came when I was walking down Sargent with my mom and I saw these two dudes approach us and they didn’t move out of the way but we moved out of the way. I was like why did I move out of the way? They came towards us; we made eye contact. I just kept thinking, why do we keep doing that? It kept happening over and over again for a couple weeks and I thought about all the times that I move out of the way for people, especially men and white people.

I thought about the other ways people take up space, like within my job and school. I decided to talk to non-binary folks, queer folks, people of colour, QTBIPOC, people with disabilities, and women about the ways that they navigate that and occupy spaces. This project is about reclaiming that space.

CH: How does the interview aspect of this project inform the work?

MC: Certain stories really stuck out to me, but I’m also interested in hearing other people’s reactions. I hope other people are able to relate to them too. It has a domino effect and creates empowerment. If you want to take up more space, do it in your own time when you feel the most comfortable.

I was talking to Megan Linton and their experience with using a cane. I wouldn’t imagine that people would be so gross about it. Sometimes I don’t even realize how taking up space is so important for other people. She just wants to walk around and get from point A to point B. She doesn’t need people to stare at her and say “ooh, cane,” or “why do you have a cane?” She had to make a whole instagram post to explain, “don’t talk to me about my cane.” People shouldn’t have to do that. I shouldn’t have to say, “don’t stare at me because I’m black.” Things that aren’t necessary have to become necessary because people can be terrible.

CH: There are so many stories you’ve collected about people’s experience with public space—what was that like and will you be doing anything further with the interviews?

MC:  Femisphere [on CKUW 95.9fm] keeps giving me the platform to do stuff like this so that I can meet people and share their stories and have companionship with different people in the city who are doing all this amazing work. I underestimated Winnipeg when I was younger. The people you meet, maybe you don’t see them all the time, but acknowledging that they’re a good person, that I understand their stories, and that we have a common ground—it’s about friendship. It’s about people. Of course it sucks not to be around my family as much, but I think, mom, I love you—but I need to do this work, because I think it’s valuable and needed.

Playing the interviews on Femisphere will be great because it’s a community radio station. I love radio because you don’t know who is listening to it. My mom and grandma listen to it and they love it, but we need the mayor to listen to it, or someone who has never thought about taking up space or learned about feminism. Anyone can listen, just like the photos in window, anyone can see them.

CH: Can you say more about how the photographs’ physical presence at window lends to the work?

MC: I think it’s super cool that people are just passing by. There’s no label or name next to it so people can have their own imagination about what it might be about. People who are involved in the photos can also walk by and be like, “ooh it’s me up there,” which definitely has power too, to take up space in downtown Winnipeg in an area that is very businessy and expensive. I can post them online and people can share them, but to have physical space, people can try to understand what those photos represent and what the stories behind them are.

CH: Can you tell us about other upcoming projects or future goals? How can people keep up with your work?

Location: Artspace Building, corner of Bannatyne @ Arthur [sidewalk level]

In partnership with Calling Card, window is pleased to present our thirty-ninth installation,

Occupy

(2018), by Mahlet Cuff, on view until August 13, 2018.

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Occupy gave women, queer women, non-binary, and trans folks an opportunity to talk about their experiences with taking up space. Through the interviews it gave them the ability to be open, honest, vulnerable, and uplifted through the progression of the conversations. They were able to discuss times where they  take up space in places that are not "made" for them or that have been taken up by more privileged people. I also photograph the subjects in places they are either comfortable in or I capture them being comfortable in their own bodies within these spaces they feel are not meant for them.

Being able to interview and photograph each person was so different from the other. As I kept photographing folks every couple of weeks I realized most of them have never had their photo taken professionally in a casual sense. They asked if they should pose or not and each time a person asked me I said, “Do what makes you feel comfortable and happy.” From that moment on I could feel them being less unsure about how they should look as they felt invited to take up that space however they could. As I continue to take photos of people who are usually not given a voice I hope that they are able to feel open and unapologetic about how they occupy certain spaces.

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About the artist:

Mahlet Cuff is an interdisciplinary artist from Treaty One territory—so called Winnipeg, Manitoba—who uses mediums such as photography, collaging, poetry, textiles, and sound to produce her work. Through her practice she hopes to create more awareness about the lack of representation of women of colour and queer people of colour in media. Her work has been shown at local galleries and events such as aceartinc. and Nuit Blanche’s Nuit Noire. In addition, her portraiture was also in the womenofcolour@soagallery exhibition, which was in response to the absence of women of colour in the permanent collection of the University of Manitoba’s School of Art. In her free time she loves reading feminist zines, watching cheesy romantic comedies and taking down the patriarchy one day at a time.