Seeing the Dark Continent in the City of Light

Cairo-born, Turkish-French artist Nil Yalter's multimedia artwork Orient Express deploys photographs, drawings, a 16mm film, and polaroids made during a train journey between Paris and Istanbul, to examine the cultural projections that exist between the two capital cities on a route that served migrant labor. The centralization of France in Paris, which emerged after the Revolution, was unique in Europe and continued to hold promise of diverse resources for women artists seeking careers and who were attracted by its opportunities. During the events of May 1968, the city of Paris served as an uneven ground for women artists. Indian artist Nalini Malani lived in Paris from 1970–1972. Upon her arrival, she found the École des beaux-arts in the process of changing its curriculum, as it redefined itself in the wake of May 1968.