(n=6–9)
2020-2021
5 prints on silk, 130x185cm, silk printing ; contact print from a 4x5’’negativ ; 38 Instax in a 80x120cm frame ; 107 feathers in 80x120cm frame ; 103 inket prints, 12,7x17,8cm
Part of the national commission Regards du Grand Paris, by Ateliers Médicis and the Cnap.
5 prints on silk, 130x185cm, silk printing ; contact print from a 4x5’’negativ ; 38 Instax in a 80x120cm frame ; 107 feathers in 80x120cm frame ; 103 inket prints, 12,7x17,8cm
Part of the national commission Regards du Grand Paris, by Ateliers Médicis and the Cnap.
Imported mid 20s century in France to decorate homes with their exotic features, some 30 rose-ringed parakeets escaped from Orly airport in 1974. Since then, they breeded and invaded the parisian sky. While some say they are an inviding species that should be stopped, researchers found out they are not threatening to the parisian urban ecosystem and that they are just like any other big bird.
A parallel could be drawn between these birds and post-colonial trajectories : this species, enjoyed precisely for its exoticism, was loved when in cages, and seen as a threat when freed. Topakian studied the vocabulary around the descriptions of the bird and realized it matches a racist vocabulary : each print has a sentence silk-printed on it, found on Internet, in which a disturbing ambivalence makes it uneasy for the viewer to understand if we are talking about birds or humans.
While the human territory is based on borders and property, nature finds no interest in these human conceptions. Couldn’t we learn from looking up the sky and watching the birds?
(n=6–9) - scarves
2022
3 natural silk scarves, hand rolled-hem, 25 copies each
3 natural silk scarves, hand rolled-hem, 25 copies each
To further spread the parakeets’ message, I edited 3 prints as scarves, so the parakeets continue to fly in the public space.
These are natural silk scarves, with hand rolled-hem, limited to 25 copies.
You can purchase them here https://rebeccatopakian.bigcartel.com/
