In Barefoot Birthdays on Unbreakable Glass, three women – Constance, Azam, Anna – each spend a day with the filmmaker in their homes. With a succession of dynamic short takes, close ups of actions and rituals, objects and trinkets, bookshelves and photographs, the filmmaker is revealed in her proximity to each of them who confide in her stories of art creation, immigration, and familial bonds and breaks. As the protagonists find distance from their families, both over time and space, they reflect on their own mother-daughter relationship: relationships cut short, relationships evolving, relationships to treasure. Each woman recalls a gift their mother gave them – a gesture of reconciliation, a keepsake to wear on the skin, a word of advice to hold onto. Following insights of independent experiences of love and loss, they unite in one space to pose and play for the filmmaker, to commemorate a new chapter of life, and to celebrate friendship.
Biography
Rebecca Jane Arthur is a visual artist working predominantly with the moving image and text. Her works often transpire as experimental film portraits of people and places, and her interest lies in how personal stories depict a socio-political context and history, giving particular attention to class politics, education and women’s experiences. She is co-founder of the Brussels-based, artist-run production and distribution platform elephy, contributor to the online film criticism platform Sabzian, and a PhD in the Arts candidate at KASK & Conservatorium/School of Arts Ghent where she teaches in the visual arts department and lectures on art and feminist theory. She recently exhibited her work at ARGOS, Brussels; Beursschouwburg, Brussels; Centre Wallonie-Bruxelles, Paris; Convent, Ghent; Courtisane Festival, Ghent; FESTIFREAK, Buenos Aires; FRACTO, Berlin; Open City Documentary Festival, London; Punto de Vista, Pamplona; Size Matters, Vienna; Tallinn Photomonth: Contemporary Art Biennial; WIELS, Brussels, 25FPS; Zagreb; among others.