Maral BOLOURI
Photographer

Maral received a creation grant in partnership with the Atelier des Artistes en Exil. 

What is your artistic background ?
I have a master’s degree in contemporary art and a bachelor’s degree in painting. Although my practice during the past six years has been focused on conceptual art with an interest in trying different media, my work is largely based on text. Each project usually entails extensive research and incorporating literary themes. Living in Kenya for five years has introduced a wider perspective of feminist and postcolonial questions into my practice. 

How do you see your profession today ?
What animates my practice at the moment is the question of ethics in art, which is a very wide scope of course. I tend to gauge myself and my artistic practice against the values I constantly question. The central focus of my current projects is on broader terms, body politics or the political discourse on the human body. More specifically as a queer artist, I am investigating Queer and Female bodies, designing my approaches based on Judith Butler’s theories. 

How do you see yourself in five years ? In 10 years ?
The only certainty I could offer would be the fact that my practice will not be what it is today, I strongly believe in change. As an artist, I reject stagnation in one medium or idea. I would like to pursue a master’s degree in gender studies and to venture into animation. I would like my art to have a more democratic output which I see missing from the institutional scene of contemporary art. 

This interview was conducted in 2018
Photo credit: Céline Anaya Gautier