On Mass Hysteria
Laia Abril
Dewi Lewis Publishing
English
Hardcover
First edition
384 pages
196 x 280 mm
2024
ISBN 9781916915114
In On Mass Hysteria, the genesis chapter of ‘A History of Misogyny’, Laia Abril visualises the historical and contemporary societal interpretations of outbreaks termed as ‘mass hysteria’. Abril gives form to an anthropological theory viewing these psychosomatic outbreaks as a female proto-language of protest, triggered by oppressive systems, collective pain, and transgenerational trauma.
Abril interrogates Western society’s views, including medical and academic analyses, that overlook female suffering, hypermedicalise women, and neglect alternative explanations from spiritual and Indigenous beliefs. The project seeks to redirect the narrative away from victim-blaming towards a critical examination of the role of societal and political oppression in manifesting collective illness.
In On Mass Hysteria, the genesis chapter of ‘A History of Misogyny’, Laia Abril visualises the historical and contemporary societal interpretations of outbreaks termed as ‘mass hysteria’. Abril gives form to an anthropological theory viewing these psychosomatic outbreaks as a female proto-language of protest, triggered by oppressive systems, collective pain, and transgenerational trauma.
Abril interrogates Western society’s views, including medical and academic analyses, that overlook female suffering, hypermedicalise women, and neglect alternative explanations from spiritual and Indigenous beliefs. The project seeks to redirect the narrative away from victim-blaming towards a critical examination of the role of societal and political oppression in manifesting collective illness.
(source: https://www.dewilewis.com/)
About the Artist
Spanish multidisciplinary artist Laia Abril (born 1986) combines photography, text, video, installation and documents in her work. It has has been exhibited all over the world and can be found in numerous private and public collections, including those of the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Musée de l’Élysée in Lausanne, the Fotomuseum Winterthur and the National Art Museum of Catalonia. She is the author of several books, including The Epilogue (2014), shortlisted for the Paris Photo-Aperture Photographic Book Prize, the PhotoBook festival in Kassel and the PhotoEspaña Best Book Award.
Her book Lobismuller (RM, 2016) received the ImageBook Award. On Abortion (2018) and On Rape (2022), published in English by Dewi Lewis, are the first volumes in her project A History of Misogyny, and she is represented in France by the gallery Les Filles du Calvaire.
Laia Abril
(Source: https://www.delpireandco.com)
About the Publisher
Dewi Lewis Publishing is a partnership owned and run by Caroline Warhurst and Dewi Lewis.Founded in 1994, its photography list has an international reputation and has included books by leading British and international photographers such as William Klein, Martin Parr, Simon Norfolk, Fay Godwin, Tom Wood, Sergio Larrain, Frank Horvat, John Blakemore, Paolo Pelegrin and Bruce Gilden. The aim of the company is to bring to the attention of a wider public, accessible but challenging contemporary photography by both established and lesser known practitioners. The company has a worldwide distribution network and is recognised as one of the leading photographic publishers in the world.
dewilewis.com
(source: https://www.dewilewis.com)
