What are you looking at?
Every month, someone from the Harkat team uses this space to reflect and set the tone for what’s on our mind. Harkat show calendars are after this short prelude text.
The first sentence on this page must be strong. Or that is what I’m convinced of. The first sentence cannot be a string of seven tied together with commas. It needs to have rhythm, wit, subtlety. The way I move must have rhythm, wit, humility.
I wonder how often I’m looked at without being perceived. Looked at, but not seen. Looked at, with love, lust, respect, envy, interest. Do I look back? For a second, maybe. How often do I look at myself? Too often. And how often do I do this to grasp what you’re looking at?
The gaze, to me, is a tender term. A tool - a means to consciously criticise, comment. A way to find agency but not necessarily propagate an agenda. It’s only human to linger on something strange, beautiful, or disturbing. It’s also human to interpret, discern, and voice
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Agnes Varda, a feminist icon and pioneer in French cinema, phrased the context of the female gaze in simple words. Saying, “The first feminist gesture is to say: “OK, they’re looking at me. But I’m looking at them.” The act of deciding to look, of deciding that the world is not defined by how people see me, but how I see them.”And this month through cinema, we’re distilling the female gaze with her words at heart. Seeking the tenderly observed - the nooks of spaces and time that were understood and interpreted by women in art. I hope you find some time to linger, and steal a glance of yourself through these films.
all love,
ananya
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