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ABSTRACT
After the French authorities dismantled the Parisian street camp “La Chapelle” in June 2015, a new wave of struggles began in Paris to support people in situations of migration. Months later, these mobilizations led to the emergence of new associations and collectives which three years on are an absolutely essential part of Parisian activism. This portfolio of drawings represents only a small selection from the series of 269 that Laura Genz completed in Paris over 6 months in 2015, taking part in these mobilizations as an activist. Her drawings are not “illustrations” in the conventional sense. They do not illustrate a story or narrative: they are the story. Neither are the titles given here meant to “describe” them as drawings; instead, they amount to a human and political position statement on the reality of the French and European policies they record. Borders hurt and kill as well as guns.
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Laura Genz
Laura Genz is a drawer and activist living in Paris. She uses drawing to get furtively into various places, taking a stand and meeting people. Her main works consist of series of daily drawings telling of struggles over migrations. Before the series “A Season of Wandering” was undertaken on Parisian street camps in 2015, she made drawings for more than two years of the very long occupation led by the Coordination 75 des Sans Papiers from 2008 to 2010 in Paris. This first series was exhibited at the Biennial of Contemporary Art in Lyon in 2009. It has been fully published in a book, Hier colonisés, aujourd’hui exploités, demain régularisés. Les Journées de la Coordination 75 des Sans Papiers (2010).