REFUSALS AND PRACTICES OF FREEDOM
A feminist research residency and summer school

May 14 to 16, 2026
Studio Claire Fontaine, Via Giuseppe Garibaldi, 41/Interno 11, 90133 Palermo PA, Italy


Across three days, this self-directed research and study program in Palermo investigates past acts of exiting, refusal, withdrawal, and other practices of freedom by feminist artists as blueprints for addressing current social, cultural and political emergencies.

Reading groups, public lectures, and screenings will explore and activate the “undetonated potential” (Freeman 2011) of earlier feminist practices in the present by examining writings, performances, films and conceptual artworks from the early 1970s through to today.






Organized by

Fulvia Carnevale of Claire Fontaine, Palermo

Béa C.-T., Concordia University, Montreal

Gabby Moser, Concordia University, Montreal

Helena Reckitt, Goldsmiths, University of London



guest contributors

Anita chari, university of oregon, eugene

Teresa cisneros, law society, london

Beatrice gibson, artist and filmmaker, palermo

Joyce joumaa, artist, amsterdam

Jen kennedy, queen’s university, kingston

Yaniya lee, concordia university, Montreal

Jaleh mansoor, university of british columbia, vancouver 

Pratibha parmar, filmmaker, london

Daniella sanader, york university, toronto



Carla Lonzi, Elvira Banotti and Carla Accardi during the first meeting of Rivolta Femminile in the garden of Pietro Consagra’s studio, Rome, 31 May 1970. Photo: Pietro Consagra. 
© Archivio Pietro Consagra, Milan