I am writing this text on the day the United States attacks Iran. I procrastinate on Instagram and come across an article published in L\u2019Humanit\u00e9<\/em>: \u201cIn Israel, racism deprives Palestinians from access to anti-missile shelters.\u201d On the same day, I also learn about the organizing of \u201cLa Saint-Jean de la race\u201d in Qu\u00e9bec City. Today, June 22, it\u2019s sunny and very hot, 29 degrees Celsius in Tiohti\u00e1:ke\/Montr\u00e9al. It sounds normal, right? Tomorrow, it will be 38 degrees Celsius, which seems more alarming to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In short, not much good news in the headlines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n All the same, I\u2019m happy that it\u2019s hot out. To pretend otherwise would be lying. I\u2019d also be lying if I said that I felt some eco-anxiety, no matter how much I know about the subject. I\u2019m unable to feel any anxiety or concern. A small flicker of revolt, at most.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Racists in the streets?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Total indifference, intense boredom. What could ever happen that would be worse than what my ancestors experienced?<\/p>\n\n\n\n I have the impression that my gender protects me. Paradoxically. I worry about my brother, the man with whom I share my life, my friends. Still, all these men seem to me so much stronger and more courageous than all the racist losers I\u2019ve seen on TV or social media. I also think that we\u2019ve been ready for this for much longer than we care to admit. We know collectively, we the barbarians,1<\/sup><\/a><\/span> 1 <\/a> - Louisa Yousfi, Rester barbare<\/em> (Paris: La Fabrique, 2022).<\/span> that the fascists will retake the streets. We\u2019ve never let our guard down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the end, maybe it\u2019s not my gender that\u2019s protecting me. I\u2019m trying to put my finger on it. My level of education, maybe? I look Arab, that\u2019s for sure: hrach<\/em> curly hair, black eyes, olive skin. My French accent muddies the waters a bit. In Tiohti\u00e1:ke\/Montr\u00e9al, I\u2019ve rarely (though not never) been asked where I really<\/em> come from.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Maybe I\u2019ve normalized all the microaggressions, so I can no longer see them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When my proposal was selected for this writing project, I admit that I had addressed the question of radicality rather pretentiously, as though it was an idea I had totally mastered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then, over the course of various talks and discussions, I encountered a problem I hadn\u2019t anticipated: I have trouble dreaming. I identify a problem and solve it. I can improve, oppose, denounce, deconstruct things, but imagining<\/em> seems impossible to me. I don\u2019t let myself do it. Yet, it\u2019s essential. So I look at those who allow themselves to imagine and try to draw inspiration from them. I attempt to be somewhat naive and draft a few lines of thought here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On May 31, 2025, as part of the symposium How to Protect a Radical Idea<\/em>, the artist, researcher, curator, and teacher Victoria Stanton gave a keynote called The power of saying no and resting<\/em>, in which she talked about rejection and rest as political practices. The talk started with an individual observation: a general fatigue, an inability to produce. I pictured stopping as well but, paradoxically, I was in the room to work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By distinguishing between various forms of \u201cno,\u201d Stanton takes us on a collective path. In the current neoliberal context, artists and cultural workers are increasingly expected to adopt an entrepreneurial mentality, to always be available and productive, even in their time off. The precariousness of artists and workers\u2014which goes far beyond the art milieu\u2014imposes a hectic pace. This also affects students, emerging artists seeking recognition, and those who must prioritize other jobs in order to secure their income. The constant pressure to produce makes it all the more difficult to refuse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I try to imagine a reality in which \u201cno\u201d could be formalized. I\u2019m not convinced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I think of my father always working and for far too long on the rooftops of Paris. I think of my mother, my grandmothers, my aunts, all the women around me who so rarely take time to rest. I think of all the people who don\u2019t have the luxury to ask themselves the question\u2014those for whom race, the family\u2019s survival, or lack of papers make any kind of respite unthinkable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I think of all the times (too many) when my approval was forced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Images of protests come to mind. Thousands of people. The streets full. The shouting and flags in the streets of Amman, Algiers, London, Paris, Tiohti\u00e1:ke\/Montr\u00e9al, and so many other cities in which people are opposing the colonial war waged against Palestinians. I see the residents of Los Angeles standing up against the kidnappings orchestrated by the Trump administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I imagine a world in which our collective refusal is heard. This reminds me of Wendy Delorme\u2019s Viendra le temps du feu<\/em> (2021). In this novel, an event triggers the rise of a patriarchal and fascist society. In the face of the governments\u2019 lack of action against environmental disasters, millions of young people kill themselves to bring about change. This radical refusal imagined by Delorme is extreme and desperate, yet deeply meaningful. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The people who attended the keynote explored less radical but equally embodied possibilities: radical empathy, the right to rest, poetry and art as sites of struggle. We touched on the political concept of the universal basic income, unconditionally provided to all, which reinvents social welfare and creates a space for imagining, acting, and resisting collectively. I then understood that the dream is not simply something naive but a manifestation of the rejection of an economic, political, social, or racial system. In this essential radicality lies the most important creative activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the first talk of the symposium, the writer, curator, and art historian Amber Berson introduced the utopian methodology of the sociology professor Ruth Levitas. In Utopia as Method: The Imaginary Reconstitution of Society<\/em> (2013), Levitas proposes a critical method for analyzing current societies and imagining possible futures. She shows that utopia is not an unrealistic chimera but a critical process\u2014one that reveals political impasses, explores collective desires, and sketches out new horizons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Continuing along the same lines, Berson offered a critical reading of the integration of feminist theories into artist-run centres. By retracing the feminist evolution of the artist-run centre La Centrale, she helped the audience reflect more broadly and turn toward the future. It became clear that the governance structures of these centres often evolve in reaction to internal crises and lead to slow and progressive reconsiderations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Berson then asked the audience to participate in a visioning exercise: to write our wishes for a feminist art centre on the wall of the room. Demands related to inclusivity, such as taking into account disabilities, recognizing chronic illnesses, and providing accessibility for people with reduced mobility, quickly came to the fore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ideas regarding access to art creation and dissemination, the end of budgetary constraints for artist-run centres, and the standards of living of cultural workers and artists also found a place on the wall. In other words, we imagined a society in which art and its artisans are freed from market logic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We made our way toward a simple dream: the end of capitalism. More importantly, a world in which capitalism would seem crazy and entirely foreign to our values.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Over the course of the discussions, I wondered what values bind us together. Two seem paramount: equity and unconditional solidarity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since then, the idea of considering utopia has stayed with me. I understand utopianism<\/em> as a thought process that takes us from the personal experience to the formalization of a collective, desirable, and enviable political and social project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So I continued down this path by reading Utopie radicale: par-del\u00e0 l\u2019imaginaire des cabanes et des ruines<\/em> (2022) by the philosopher and essayist Alice Carab\u00e9dian.<\/em> In this book, Carab\u00e9dian examines the strategies of science fiction necessary to creating new imaginaries and explains the importance of narrating and transmitting utopias in order to imagine a future that is desirable for everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although Carab\u00e9dian focuses on literary genres of dystopias and utopias, I nevertheless believe that her proposition applies more broadly to all cultural and artistic productions. Since they establish a discourse about the world, all forms of art are needed to change our perspectives. I imagine art centres as incubators of ideas that can create ruptures: works-crises. So as to slowly and painstakingly move the horizon line imposed by the capitalist system constraining us. For someone like me who is deprived of daydreaming, this is something I can grab onto at last.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I can work with what I know about art to expand new imaginaries by offering alternative, revolutionary, forgotten, or imagined histories. Despite everything, I see a small glimmer of hope in this common place. I\u2019ll sleep better tonight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Translated by Oana Avasilichioaei<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"La Centrale galerie Powerhouse,<\/strong> Montr\u00e9al![\"Salima](\"https:\/\/esse.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/web_Bouzidi_Salima-Punjani_Reverieguidee_La-Centrale-scaled.jpg\")
R\u00eaverie Guid\u00e9e,<\/em> installation view, La Centrale galerie Powerhouse, Montr\u00e9al, 2025.
Photo: Vjosana Shkurti, courtesy of La Centrale galerie Powerhouse, Montr\u00e9al<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"Salima](\"https:\/\/esse.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/web_Bouzidi_Salima-Punjani_Reverieguidee_La-Centrale_01-scaled.jpg\")
R\u00eaverie Guid\u00e9e,<\/em> performance view, La Centrale galerie Powerhouse, Montr\u00e9al, 2025.
Photo: Vjosana Shkurti, courtesy of La Centrale galerie Powerhouse, Montr\u00e9al<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nFormalizing Refusal<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Utopian Desires<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Amber](\"https:\/\/esse.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/web_Bouzidi_Amber-Berson_La-Centrale-scaled.jpg\")
R\u00eaver l\u2019utopie : F\u00e9minismes dans les centres d\u2019artistes autog\u00e9r\u00e9s,<\/em> workshop, La Centrale galerie Powerhouse, Montr\u00e9al, 2025.
Photo: Rosemarie Laporte, courtesy of La Centrale galerie Powerhouse, Montr\u00e9al<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"Nana](\"https:\/\/esse.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/web_Bouzidi_Nuit-de-la-poesie_La-Centrale-scaled.jpg\")
Nuit de la po\u00e9sie<\/em>, poetry night by Dare-Dare and La Centrale galerie Powerhouse, Montr\u00e9al, 2025.
Photo: Rosemarie Laporte, courtesy of La Centrale galerie Powerhouse, Montr\u00e9al<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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