This symposium is associated with the traveling exhibition Magnanrama: Portraits, Networks, and Current Events of Nathalie Magnan, which was presented throughout 2026 at the contemporary art centers Villa Arson in Nice, Les Capucins in Embrun, and Bétonsalon in Paris. The event is conceived as a culmination of the study of the thought and legacy of the media theorist, filmmaker, and cyberfeminist—who passed away in 2016—in light of media-tactic, feminist, and queer theories. In partnership with the Archives de la critique d’art (Rennes), which houses her archives, the conference will bring together researchers, artists, and activists to discuss the political and methodological challenges of lesbian archives, the circulation of theories and media between France and the United States, and curatorial practices within institutions.

FRIDAY, 13 NOVEMBER 2026

INHA, Galerie Colbert, Jacqueline Lichtenstein Auditorium

08:30 Registration

09:00 Opening and introduction by the partner institutions

Marie Tchernia-Blanchard (Archives de la critique d’art – ACA / University of Rennes 2), Mathilde Belouali (Les Capucins Contemporary Art Centre, Embrun), Marion Boudon Machuel (INHA), Émilie Renard (Bétonsalon – Centre for Art and Research) and Zahia Rahmani (INHA)

SESSION 1 – LESBIAN, QUEER AND ACTIVIST ARCHIVES: BETWEEN INSTITUTIONALISATION AND SELF-ORGANISATION

Chaired by Magali Le Mens (University of Rennes 2 / UMR 8566, EHESS/CNRS)

09:30 Processing and Promoting the Nathalie Magnan Collection
Laurence Le Poupon (ACA / University of Rennes 2)

10:00 What Lesbian Memories Exist in French Television? From Decoding the Silences of the 1950s to Canal+’s Late-Night Programming
Catherine Gonnard (independent researcher)

10:30 How Do Lesbian Lives Challenge Our Archives?
Faustine Besançon (Archives Recherches Cultures Lesbiennes – ARCL / Paris 8 University Vincennes–Saint-Denis) and Lila Niel (ARCL)

11:00 Discussion and break

11:30 Between Conflict and the Commons: Counter-Archives as a Means of Affirmation?
Bénédicte Grailles (University of Angers)

12:00 Collection Policies: Perspectives on Nathalie Magnan’s Archives
Antoine Idier (Sciences Po Saint-Germain-en-Laye / Centre for Sociological Research on Law and Penal Institutions)

12:30 The Magnanian Cyborgology of the Countersexual Museum of Transology
E-J Scott (Museum of Transology / Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, London)

Presentation in English

13:00 Lunch

SESSION 2 – “POINTS OF INTERSECTION”: QUEER THEORY, SITUATED KNOWLEDGES AND ACTIVISM

Chaired by Giovanna Zapperi (University of Geneva)

14:30 Knowing Each Other: From Nathalie Magnan to American Feminist Video Practices
Pascaline Morincôme (Jean Monnet University, Saint-Étienne)

15:00 Proto-Cyberfeminisms: A Journey to the United States, 1979–1990
Clélia Barbut (Paris 8 University Vincennes–Saint-Denis / University of Rennes 2)

15:30 Discussion and break

16:30 Letter to No Anger
Élisabeth Lebovici (art critic)

17:00 Discussion

SESSION 3 – SCREENINGS

18:00–20:00 Film screenings

Introduced by Elvan Zabunyan (Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University)

• Jean Carlomusto and Maria Maggenti, Doctors, Liars, and Women: AIDS Activists Say No to Cosmo, 1988, 23 min
• Marlon Riggs, Tongues Untied, 1989, 55 min

SATURDAY, 14 NOVEMBER 2026 – MORNING
INHA, Galerie Colbert, Jacqueline Lichtenstein Auditorium

09:30 Registration

SESSION 4 – “ON THE INTERNET, MEN CANNOT INTERRUPT US”

Chaired by Mathilde Belouali (Les Capucins Contemporary Art Centre, Embrun)

10:00 Cyberfeminist and Technofeminist Practices in France Since the 1990s
Marie Lechner (independent researcher), Isabel·le Carlier (Annecy Alpes School of Art) and Mathilde Belouali (Les Capucins Contemporary Art Centre, Embrun)

10:45 Conversation between Peggy Pierrot (École de recherche graphique – ERG, Brussels) and Chloé Desmoineaux (artist)

11:30 Discussion and lunch

SATURDAY, 14 NOVEMBER 2026 – AFTERNOON
Bétonsalon – Centre for art and research

SESSION 5 – MAGNANRAMA

14:30 Exhibition tour: Magnanrama: Media, Technologies, Identities and Networks Around Nathalie Magnan
Mathilde Belouali (Les Capucins Contemporary Art Centre, Embrun), exhibition curator

15:00 Technopornia: The Sexual Politics of Technology
Cindy Coutant (artist and independent researcher / Geneva University of Art and Design – HEAD)

15:30 Letter to Élisabeth Lebovici
No Anger (artist)

SATURDAY, 14 NOVEMBER 2026 – EVENING
mk2 Beaubourg

19:50 Film screening

Opening screening of the 32nd Chéries-Chéris Festival

Films by Nathalie Magnan: Lesborama (1995), Internautes (1995), Un homme sur deux est une femme (1996), Il n’y a pas de fumée sans feu (1996)

With the participation of Reine Prat, Catherine Gonnard and Mathilde Belouali

Reservations via the mk2 Beaubourg website.