Silvie Defraoui born in 1935 is a pioneer of video art and art education in Switzerland. From
1975 onwards she worked in collaboration with her husband Chérif Defraoui (1932-1994). Together
they developed the Archives du Futur a reflection on images their status and potential for
memory and the future and founded the legendary Atelier Médias Mixtes at Geneva's École
supérieure des Beaux-Arts (now HEAD-Genève). Since 1995 Defraoui pursues a practice using
various forms of expression including projection installation ceramics and serigraphy. On
Words is a collection of interviews with leading contemporary women artists. In conversation
with Julie Enckell Julliard Federica Martini and Sarah Burkhalter they speak about the
sources from which they draw inspiration themes in their work and their view of the world.
The series brings together a wide range of viewpoints and adds a new narrative to polyphonic
art history as told by those who actively shape it.
