Coralie Girard, 28, is from a little town near Lyon, in France, Coralie has always loved creativity and one day started to take pictures and to emphasis the beautiful details that surrounded her and that she felt was undervalued due to people not giving enough attention to their surroundings. Coralie has always been interested in art but had not chosen a specialised discipline or a specific art form, having explored theatre, circus, music, drawing, photography, until she had the opportunity to join a volunteering project in Slovenia, where Coralie learnt how to make movies. Living currently in Argentina for a few months whilst studying an international Master of Instructional Design (how to use technology for Education) this artist is one to watch. ASLI felt that this submission for our first issue by Coralie was so powerful and in need of a mass viewing, we jumped at the chance to help her achieve this. We suggest you remember her name and follow this artist as she contributes to the voice of art, film and design.

 

What motivated you to deal with the subject of domestic violence in your art?

“As a woman, a daughter, a sister and a girl-friend, I am touched by domestic violence issue. I wanted to speak about it because I think we all should feel concerned about it, this is not the problem of the others, everybody of us knew or know somebody who suffer(ed) from domestic violence (man or woman), and it’s a kind of taboo, which doesn’t help to fight it.”

 

Tell us why you chose this submission?

“My boyfriend, who also worked with me on the movie, sent me the link of the application. After checking it, I really liked both the name of the project “Art Saves Lives” and the commitment of the organisation. I’m deeply convinced that Art can save lives, that’s why I love Art and support any kind of it. The proposed topic “Violence against women” made me think that my movie could be selected.”

Synopsis: Everything started like a beautiful love story… but love is blind and they could never imagine how will turn the situation.

 

 

Why have you chosen the medium you use for your art?

“My situation of volunteering in a video production organisation in Slovenia gave me the opportunity to express myself through video. It could have been other form of art, if I would be involved in a different project at this moment. I think it was just the good time to express myself about this topic, and I used the medium that I was exploring in this particular moment.”

 

What is your process when creating?

“I usually feel inspired by pictures and draw the story from them. But for this movie, in particular, the process was the complete opposite and it was new for me. I firstly collected the 3 interviews of the women, then imagined a unique story from this material, and tried to illustrate it in my way…”

 

Who are you influenced by? What inspired you and your art?

“I am inspired by a lot of artists, from famous ones to my friends, I am very sensitive to poetic expression of people, can be a child or an animal, can be my grandmother or somebody I meet in the street and offer me a smile.”

 

What does feminism mean to you and do you consider yourself to be a feminist?

“I think I’m a feminist, like every person who wants equality for all, I’m a feminist, a humanist, what I want is equality for all, men, women and trans, children over the world, respect for all. In today societies we particularly need to fight for women, for their lives and dignity, that’s why I consider myself as a feminist.”

 

What made you want to get involved with our non-profit ART SAVES LIVES INTERNATIONAL mission?

“I think Art is very powerful to educate people, and change the world, even if we only change the way one unique person think in this world, influence a lit bit somebody towards a more open point of view on the world and on people, I think it worth it. Art arrives directly to people emotions and feelings, that’s why it has a power of engaging that classical education or other forms of communication don’t have.”

 

Do you feel women have to conform to social norms and stereotypes to be taken seriously? Do you have any experiences of this?

“I think women shouldn’t have to conform to social norms and stereotypes to be taken seriously, I think we should be more careful and give a voice to women, as ASLI does.”

 

Do you think that women and men are equal in today’s societies around the world? Have you any experience of this?

“I see a lot of inequalities in today’s societies around the world, part of them is between men and women. They are far away to be equal, in most of the societies women are not represented in politics, get a smaller salary for the same job, have less responsibilities… I have experienced this, not directly myself but knowing the situation of my colleagues in the different companies I worked. Unfortunately it’s not hard to observe inequality between men and women in everyday life.”

 

What causes and world issues are you passionate about, campaign for, volunteer for etc…..?

“I’m concerned about women and men equality, education for all, and freedom of expression. I volunteered in different organisations: I taught French language to migrants in France, I participated as a mentor in movie making workshops for kids and for Roma people, I am actually writing a master thesis about how can digital inclusion and educational inclusion promote social inclusion.”

 

What does the statement ART SAVES LIVES mean to you and has art in anyway “saved” your life in any way?

“I deeply believe that Art can save lives, as I explained before. I think we should educate people to be able to express themselves through Art, because it is the best way to reach people, call for their sensibility for social causes and engage them. In a way I think Art saved my life, because since I was a child I always expressed myself through it. I expressed my feeling through poetry when I was a teenager, I attended a theatre course, what helped me to fight against my shyness, and later I started to express myself through photography and video making.”

 

How can your art be used to create change and is this something you want for your art?

“Speaking about social issues is a way to change the world, that’s how my art can participate to it. Giving the voice to minorities and repressed population is a big step towards change, that’s what I would like to do through art.”

 

What are your goals as with your art?

“My goals are to express myself, give my point of view on the world, and raise awareness of people on social issues.”

 

What is your next project or piece that you are working on?

“I’m writing a thesis about digital inclusion and social inclusion in San Luis, Argentina. My next project will be to make a documentary about it, because I think we need to speak about the stakes of digital technology in our societies. Unfortunately today technologies create inequality between people, and it should be used to do the opposite, as it can be a very powerful means of expression and education (also in an artistic way, of course).”

 

And is there anything you would like to add to your interview?

“Just to say that I’m very happy that I was selected by ASLI and I hope we can collaborate together for a long time. Congratulations for your involvement for social causes!”