Intersectionality

Intersectionality

Intersectionality recognises that individual characteristics like gender, race, class, sexual orientation and physical ability cannot be considered in a vaccum, because their effects are overlapping.

Kimberle Crenshaw initially coined the term "intersectionality" in the context of anti-discrimination law to examine feminism from a racial perspective. In the 1980s, scholars like Evelyn Nakano Glenn and Patricia Hill Collins expanded its application to cultural fields, particularly in critical race theory and ethnic and feminist studies. Artists focusing on intersectionality explore how various forms of discrimination, such as racism, classism, xenophobia, misogyny, or ageism, intersect and affect individuals and communities, examining these intricate dynamics.


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Parra's studio, with Parra at the centre, his back to the camera as he works on the large painting takes centre stage, showing a faceless blue woman in a striped dress, painted in red, purple, blue and teal. The studio is full of brightly coloured paints, with a large window on the right and a patterned rug across the floor under the painting.