Irina Mutt

Irina Mutt is an in(ter)dependent writer and curator from Barcelona, currently based in Helsinki. Her practice revolves around research and distribution strategies that blend non-academic sources—like fanzines, comics, autofiction and video games—with themes of LGBTQ+ culture, sexual dissidences and experimental publishing. Through her work, she explores tensions between visibility and opacity, vulnerability and power, while challenging hegemonic notions of productivity and linear time. She has curated shows at Espai 13 Fundació Miró, Myymmälä2 (Helsinki),La Capella (Barcelona), Casa Encendida (Madrid), among other. She has collaborated with institutions like Frame, Publics, Hangar, IVAM, etc, through workshops, talks or texts.

POSITIONING WITH WHO

My curatorial thinking is not different from how I think in intimacy or how I think about politics or social urgencies, nor does it change wherever I am located. I don’t reduce this position only in relation to the art world, but in relation to the context and times I live in.

I take a position due to need rather than as a choice. This positioning is based on trans feminism. Given the current times we live in, taking this position is about addressing fascism, colonialism, ableism, racism, ageism and so on, since all struggles are intertwined. I deliberately add trans before feminism, since it is important to make clear a rejection of gender essentialism and the TERFS. Since struggles have been gentrified or hijacked by liberalism, it is important to define some terms. That’s why I chose a fragment of Virginie Despentes to talk about with whom I take a position.