Occupation and the Body: Contours of Liberation | A Dream You Dream Together

Featuring Founder of the Politics of Sexual Violence Initiative Nimmi Gowrinathan in conversation with Valeria Luiselli. Drawing on two decades of work with women in the Tamil Tigers and other liberation struggles to break imaginative barriers limiting our view of the female fighter, this talk considers Yoko Ono’s work inside a new line of inquiry that returns to a body re-politicized through the mind. Anchored in the narratives of women in war zones, excerpted readings from a forthcoming text (Occupation and the Body: Five Acts) set forth a series of questions that excavate and make visible a deeper terrain for solidarity activism to take root. Gowrinathan asks, how does the violence of space designed toward occupation settle in the bodies of the besieged? How do gendered bodies adopt postures of preservation, sacrificing movement for life? How do contortions to accommodate pain reconfigure a stronger collective body politic?

This event was presented as part of "A Dream You Dream Together: A Symposium Celebrating Yoko Ono" at Park Avenue Armory from February 15–16, 2025. This convening assembled a host of scholars, artists, writers, and activists for a series of panels and performances exploring Ono’s message, influence, and lasting impact on the art world and the world at-large.

Occupation and the Body: Contours of Liberation
A Dream You Dream Together: A Symposium Celebrating Yoko Ono
February 15, 2025
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