public enemy
Public Enemy is a folder on Yelena's PC where she documents her collaboration with Avant-garde Imam Salima El Musalima. They found each other through a search for purpose in life, that brought them together at a feminist reading group. Salima embarked on a hajj to Paris in search for Allah at religious institutions that turned her down. Yelena joined FEMEN out of frustration with her precarious position in society but left due to collateral damage. Both reached out to feminist public figures and groups but were ignored, backstabbed and banned. Together they want to challenge the status quo. Yelena and Salima want to prove that there can be solidarity between radical feminism and Islam, sparking dialogue in their communities and beyond. They want to get people talking to each other without censorship to facilitate change. By acting as elusive characters online they trigger the public and the press. Most of the time they create art documents such as twitter posts, classified ads and letters. However, they also venture into public space to enact performances. Yelena and Salima are nomads alternating between online and offline spaces. The goal is to tell their story and it doesn’t matter how, so they are willing to go right when the left does not want them and vice versa. They are nonconformists, no matter the judgement! Only their personal truth will prevail…
