Video cover with stills from the video
To All Queens, is the name of an installation and a series of film seminars. Produced in May 2000.
I call the whole project an action. It was filmed and photographed 17/05 2000 in Cape Town, South Africa.
On the 14th of September 2000, the video To All Queens and a letter were sent to all royal Queens in the world. The action was published in the Swedish magazine OOTAL #2/3, 2000. Eight of the royal Queens answered my letter and these letters are also a part of the installation. The video is only shown in scheduled public seminars held by the artist.
The installation To All Queens consists of:
– An un-edited video To All Queens (see video cover above)
– The letter sent to each royal Queen in the world and the reply letters from the royal Queens – 8 out of 12 replied.
– A photo of District Six, where I met the Queen of homeless. (C-Print 2X1 m. see below) and info about District Six.
– A photo of The Queen of Homeless with King and friends (C-Print 2X1 m. see below)
The Letter
Stockholm, September 2000
Her Majesty Queen…
Queen of the Kingdom of …
Your Royal Highness
My name is Cecilia Parsberg, I grew up in Sweden. I live and work as a visual artist in London. During May and June, 2000 I travelled around South Africa. When I visited an area in the centre of Cape Town called District Six I met a woman. She came up and started to talk to me and my videocamera about her situation, being homeless, She said: I am the Queen of Homeless. Me, my King and my friends don’t have a house, we don’t have a shelter, I don’t even have ID. I am speaking for all homeless people and to you as a woman to a woman. Please tell them…
I told her that I work as an artist and I said to her that I would do what I can.
She saw my camera as a medium and a possibility. I filmed and photographed her, her husband and her friends. Many of us are born into a life situation that steers our destiny and this is usually the main obstacle for each individual in the search to find freedom. As an artist I make and intermediate images of what I percieve living in the society. I am sending this video to you and to all the Queens in the world. This video is her possibility to meet you and yours to meet her. Please find enclosed a videocasette with the title: ”To all Queens” as a gift.
This letter will be published in the Swedish art- and litterature- magazine ”OOTAL” together with some stills from the video and and a list of all the Queens it has been sent to. The video will exclusively be shown to the Queens and in my lectures.
You can find out more about the magazine on: http://www.OOtal.com
If you want to know more about District Six where Queen of Homeless is staying you can find some information on: http://www.districtsix.co.za/text/archteap.htm
If you would like to find out more about my work you can find it under: http:/www.umu.se/art/parsberg
Sincerely
Cecilia Parsberg
Work address: Guest Professor, Academy of Fine Arts
Umea University
S-901 87 UMEA
SWEDEN
ceciliaparsberg@yahoo.com
Homepage:http://www.umu.se/art
mobile: +46 (0)70 3286819
The Queen of Homeless with King and friends
District Six
is the name of a former inner-city residential area in Cape Town, South Africa. Over 60,000 of its inhabitants were forcibly removed during the 1970s by the apartheid regime. On 11 February 1966, the government declared District Six a whites-only area under the Group Areas Act, with removals starting in 1968. By 1982, more than 60,000 people had been relocated to Cape Flats township complex some 25 kilometres away. The old houses were bulldozed. (see also http://www.districtsix.co.za/)
List of all legal queens
| Her Majesty Queen Noor Queen of the Kingdom of JordanThe Royal PalaceAmmanJORDAN |
Her Majesty Queen Aishwarya Queen of the Kingdom of NepalThe Royal PalaceKatmanduNEPAL |
| Her Majesty Empress Michiko Empress of JapanThe Royal PalaceKyotoJAPAN |
Her Majesty Queen Beatrix Queen of the Kingdom of the NetherlandsThe Royal PalaceHaagTHE NETHERLANDS |
| Her Majesty Queen Margrethe IIQueen of the Kingdom of DenmarkThe Royal PalaceKobenhavnDENMARK | Her Majesty Queen Sonja Queen of the Kingdom of NorwayThe Royal PalaceOsloNORWAY |
| Her Majesty Queen Paola Queen of the Kingdom of BelgiumThe Royal PalaceBrusselsBELGIUM |
Her Majesty Queen Sophia Queen of the Kingdom of SpainThe Royal PalaceMadridSPAIN |
| Her Majesty Queen Silvia Queen of the Kingdom of SwedenThe Royal PalaceStockholmSWEDEN |
Her Majesty Queen Mom Rajawongse Sirikit Queen of the Kingdom of ThailandThe Royal PalaceBangkokTHAILAND |
| Her Majesty Queen Elisabeth II Queen of the United Kingdom ofGreat Britain and Northern IrelandThe Royal PalaceLondonGREAT BRITAIN |
Her Majesty Queen Halaevalu Mata’aho’Ahom’e The Royal Palace Nuku’alofa TONGA |