User:H Boiter/gap analysis

Gap analysis

 * What is the title of the article in which you identified a gap. If no article exists at all, what should the title be?

Zineb Sedira


 * Document the gap you found, describe how you identified it, and analyze its impact on knowledge.

The gap I have chosen to investigate and fill is that of a missing artist on the English version Wikipedia. I became interested in the work of Zineb Sedira after reading an interview she did. When I attempted to search for her on the English version of Wikipedia I initially came to the conclusion that there was no article about her. However, when I completed a broader search of all of Wikipedia through a Bing search I found that she does have an extremely small article in French. In the article, which is only seventy five words, Sedira is classified only as a French artist. This gap limits and structures knowledge in many ways. First, the fact that the article is so short means that there is much information missing not only about her art, but also about the history that lends itself to that art. Second, this structures knowledge about her in a colonial way in that the identity of the colonizer nation is recognized while the colonized nation is not. On her feminist art page for the Brooklyn Museum she provides a feminist art statement in which she self identifies as French, Algerian, and British. Two out of three of her self-identified nationalities are dismissed. However, most concerning is the dismissal of her identification as Algerian because this is where knowledge begins to be structured in a colonial manner. Claiming Sedira is strictly French ignores the large influence her Algerian heritage has had on her art. The best way to address this gap is to create a new page for Sedira on the English Wikipedia site that introduces Sedira and her art in a manner that addresses the large impact her Algerian heritage has had on her work.


 * Propose a paragraph of new or substantially edited content based on reliable sources. (If you are editing existing content, post the current version along with your edited version, and clearly mark which is which.)

Zineb Sedira (1963 - ) is a French Algerian artist whose primary mediums include photography, video, and installation pieces. Sedira was born in Paris in 1963 to Algerian parents. Her parent’s relocation to France occurred after Algeria gained independence from French colonial rule via the Algerian War for Independence. Sedira moved to London in 1986 and as such classifies herself not only as French and Algerian, but also as British. She has studied at various universities including Central St. Martins, the Slade, and the Royal College of Art. As of 2011 she still resides in London.

Her art is very much influenced by the intersection of her three national identities and by the 1970’s Feminist art movement. As such, her early work highlighted her interest in people and their culture and at times was classified as autobiographical (McGonagle and Zedira, 2006). Taking the form of documentary her early work often involved her family, including her daughter, mother, and father. Her early work, while at times classified as documentarian, has also been specified to be a type of testimony (McGonagle and Zedira, 2006). This testimonial style of work can be seen not only in the pieces that involve her family, but also in her pieces were she addresses the culture and politics of the veil, such as Silent Sight and Self-Portrait or the Virgin Mary.

The subject of her art shifted after she was able to return to Algeria in 2003. This shift is classified as a movement away from people and toward landscapes, specifically with regards to Algeria and Northern Africa. While this shift has occurred her art is still very much centered on cultural histories, as can be seen through her recent exhibition “Zineb Sedira: Present Tense.”

Her work has been displayed prominently during her career, not only in Europe, but also in the United States and the Middle East. Some of these exhibitions have included Global Feminisms and exhibits at the Venice Biennale and Centre Pompidou and Hayward Gallery. Some of her works, such as Mother Tongue and Mother, Father and I, are now in public collections and on permanent display.


 * List the reliable sources that could be used to improve this gap. (You can use the Cite tool from the editing toolbar above to input and format your sources.)


 * Cotter, Holland. "‘Zineb Sedira: Present Tense’ at the Taymour Grahne Gallery." The New York Times. The New York Times, 14 Jan. 2016. Web. 13 Feb. 2016. .
 * Mcgonagle, Joseph. "Travelling in Circles: Postcolonial Algiers in Zineb Sedira's Saphir." L'Esprit Créateur 51.1 (2011): 26-37. DOI: 10.1353/esp.2011.0003. 13 Feb. 2016.
 * McGonagle, Joseph and Zineb Sedira. “Translating Differences: An Interview with Zineb Sedira.” Signs 31.3 (2006): 617-628
 * "Photographer and Documentarian to Give StudioVU Lecture Nov. 3." Vanderbilt MyVU. 01 Nov. 2011. Web. 13 Feb. 2016. .
 * "Zineb Sedira." Brooklyn Museum: Web. 13 Feb. 2016. .