Martha Haile, You Can't Eat Money

Martha Haile chats with host Will Corwin about her video/conceptual art practice in Addis Ababa. Her collaboration with the German artist Noregard, a video entitled You Can’t Eat Money (2014) was a headline piece at the 2015 first Addis Video Art Festival and came about through an artist exchange organized by Olafur Eliasson. Haile’s work questions contemporary perceptions of gender and what is deemed appropriate appearance and behavior for men and women in contemporary Ethiopian society. She is an instigator—presenting the viewer and random passerby with situations that test their tolerance for subversive and often witty performance pieces. The reactions have ranged from ardent support to bemusement to condemnation.

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