We can turn our own hand back and forth and observe it from all angles. This is impossible with any other part of the body. A hand can pose before its owner’s eyes, like a man turning in front of a mirror. And the palm of the hand itself can be thought of as a mirror, also as a writing surface, as a stage. - Harun Farocki in Der Ausdruck der Hände

On appelle mains négatives, les peintures de mains trouvées dans les grottes magdaléniennes de l’Europe Sub-Atlantique. Le contour de ces mains – posées grandes ouvertes sur la pierre – était enduit de couleur. Le plus souvent de bleu, de noir. Parfois de rouge. Aucune explication n’a été trouvée à cette pratique. - Marguerite Duras in Les mains négatives

The film Der Ausdruck der Hände by the German director Harun Farocki, which deals with the expressive and performative nature of hands in cinema and imagery, forms the heart of the program. Brought together around this film are the work of the American animation filmmaker Robert Breer, a dance film by the American choreographer Yvonne Rainer and a short film by the French writer and filmmaker Marguerite Duras.