Tracking the Traffic
In Transit #2

Tracking the Traffic studies the history of trafficking women, as part of the history of migration, during the 19th and 20th centuries. With a look that emphasizes the destiny of women, their traces within a community that reacted strongly against human trafficking, Renner will address the activity of criminal organizations such as the Zwi Migdal. It seeks to recognize how much of this history remains and to what extent it can be expressed through artistic language.

This interdisciplinary project between art and history was developed during an eight-month research trip during 2012-2013 with a grant from the German Exchange Services (DAAD). The meeting also presented the results of the workshops held at the University of Arts in Bremen, Germany, in which students were encouraged to work on spaces for dialogue beyond their academic disciplines, investigating new possibilities to visualize history.

Renner believes that all we need are stories to fill in the gaps that no book will ever tell us, following Michel-Rolph Trouillot’s concept of “the unthinkable story”. She approaches this central idea through multimedia installations in which photography, performance, video and audio are intertwined, while the audience is entangled in an intimate dialogue with the artist.

Lecture Rastreando la Trata / Tracking the traffic from the conceptual artist Elianna Renner (Switzerland / Germany) within the series of encounters In transit*.
* In transit is a series of encounters that open the discussion around the mobility of artists, artistic residencies, global research projects and the importance of interdisciplinarity in contemporary art.