I was invited to participate to the collective show “La Vengeance de Mathilde” at the Gallery C in Neuchâtel, Switzerland which was a collaboration with the Dürrenmatt Center in Neuchâtel. For this exhibition, we worked on what would be a modern angel, linked to some drawings of bats that Dürrenmatt made. I decided to work around the Chelsea Manning topic. I was wondering if that would be a form of modern angel, ambiguous, androgynous and secret as bats are. She was a former male soldier in the US army (Bradley Manning) who gave some confidential informations to wikileaks in 2010. In 2013, she was sentenced to 35 years in prison for being a treator and having threaten the security of the united states. There are two perspectives in this case, some people think she had the right to point out terrible war mistakes, the others think by giving these informations she gave out important infos to the ennemy. When she got sentenced a few days later, she made the following statement declaring that she would undergo a sex-change operation.
Chelsea (formerly Bradley) Manning’s full statement on her court case and transition #Wikileaks:
Subject: The Next Stage of My Life
‘’ I want to thank everybody who has supported me over the last three years. Throughout this long ordeal, your letters of support and encouragement have helped keep me strong. I am forever indebted to those who wrote to me, made a donation to my defense fund, or came to watch a portion of the trial. I would especially like to thank Courage to Resist and the Bradley Manning Support Network for their tireless efforts in raising awareness for my case and providing for my legal representation.
As I transition into this next phase of my life, I want everyone to know the real me. I am Chelsea Manning.
I am a female. Given the way that I feel, and have felt since childhood, I want to begin hormone therapy as soon as possible. I hope that you will support me in this transition. I also request that, starting today, you refer to me by my new name and use the feminine pronoun (except in official mail to the confinement facility). I look forward to receiving letters from supporters and having the opportunity
to write back. ‘’
Thank you, Chelsea E Manning, august 2013
For the show I made 5 silk prints on black rubber. Here are some inspiration pictures and the pictures of the installation there. silkprint at Atelier Goupie Goupek.
here you can find more infos about Chelsea Manning
Friedrich Dürrenmatt
