22 June 2019
11–16 h

Care Counts On Value and Visibility of Caregiving
What is the value of my work if it is invisible and unpaid?

Artists:

Shira Richter

What often invisible, unpaid, mental or physical care work do we do every day? What would appropriate recognition for this look like?

This workshop allows us to explore the wider political and economic context that keeps care work invisible and undervalued. Our everyday life serves as a starting point for a joint investigation: Which small, everyday actions are actually heroic acts due to the strength, coordination, patience, perseverance and social competence they require? How can we make this daily care more visible by recognizing the value of this work to our community? What would a Curriculum Vitae of our social achievements look like? And shouldn't there be an award for that?

This two-day workshop is very open to the perspectives and input of the participants. For Shira Richter's artistic and playful methods, we will work with music, stories and images from our everyday lives. The aim is to strengthen our self-esteem as caregivers and to enhance the perspective of ourselves and others on the work we do every day - and above all, to create a space of solidarity among caregivers.

Shira Richter is an Israeli-American filmmaker, artist, peace-activist and mother of twins. Her multidisciplinary work focuses on the value of motherhood and caregiving within a socio-political-economic and artistic context. She is the director of the internationally award-winning woman-adventure documentary Two States of Mind (2002) about women’s voices regarding the Israeli Palestinian conflict and the UN resolution 1325. She is the creator of two large-scale multimedia exhibitions about motherhood: The Mother Daughter and Holy Spirit (2006) about the secrets of the transition into motherhood, and INVISIBLE INVALUABLES (2011) about the value of care-work in the economy. This work was further developed into the co-authored book chapter If Mothers Counted - Status Symbols for the Invisible Art of Mothering published in the feminist economics book Counting on Marilyn Waring - New Advances in Feminist Economics (2014) by Demeter Press.

Registration
The workshop is open to all who care for other people privately, professionally or voluntarily or who receive care from others themselves - be it at home, in schools, hospitals, day care centres, social projects, etc. With a joint lunch and child care on site (on request). The workshop is free, please register at Sascia Bailer sb@arthurboskamp-stiftung.de or call 04826 850 110.

Part of the workshop series "Care for Caregivers“

Care work is varied, but the challenges are often the same: chronic overload, lack of support, increased isolation. In a series of workshops led by artists, topics such as trust, communal support, self-esteem and recognition are therefore at the forefront. The participants are given tools and knowledge that they can integrate into their everyday lives. Recognition, exchange and networking of local care workers will be made possible - and care will be provided for those people who mostly care. The workshop series is part of Sascia Bailer's curatorial programme at the Arthur Boskamp-Stiftung. As Artistic Director 2019/2020, she focuses on care work, community and solidarity.