Session 2: Saturday 4th May at Globe Art Point (Malminkatu 5 (00100, Helsinki), where collective dialogue continues on Mothers, Parents, and Guardians in the Arts over shared food and hot drinks.

Are you an art worker and also a mother, father, parent or guardian?

We would like you to join us for a morning of sharing, connection and support. Based on reciprocity and peer learning (reading, listening, talking, sharing), the circle invites anyone in the art and culture field to join a conversation on the multifaceted role of parents and guardians in the field, our different experiences, challenges and tools to balance the demands of family and creative work.

The “Mothers, Parents & Guardians in Arts’ Circle” sessions are held the first Saturday of each month and aim to function as a supportive platform for those artists and art workers who are mothers, fathers, parents, raising children (who might not identify with the term mother/father) or who act as guardians.

We aim for a platform of understanding and solidarity. We want to advocate for an art field that would be more sensitive to the needs of artist parents/guardians and, therefore, able to respond to better accommodate them. To do that, we operate with principles of inclusion and safer space guidelines that we will all review and agree on at the beginning of the sessions. We will explore how other preexisting conditions, such as structural inequalities (e.g. racism, cis-sexism, and ableism) and privileges, affect our practice and, ultimately, our well-being.

Useful information:

–  The circle sessions happen on the first Saturday of the month (10:00-13:00) during April, May, June, August, September, October, and November.

– The circle sessions are dialogue-based, for which we will use the English language, which is not our mother tongue. We will actively try to understand each other regardless of any language barrier.

– Each dialogue happens over a potluck. A potluck means people bring food or snacks to share with the rest. We will offer you hot drinks (coffee & tea).

–  We kindly ask you to enroll to help us plan for the right group size and accommodate everyone.

– You can participate in the platform one or many times. We encourage everyone to explore with us what kind of support structures are possible.

– We will focus on different themes for each session, so the structure (possible presentations, exercises, materials) will vary. We will announce the topics in advance.

– If you are planning to come with your children, note that, at the moment, we don’t have a childcare service or a separate space for minors while we are in the circle. We welcome ideas on how to deal with this situation.

Facilitators:

Kemê Pellicer (artist, educator/culture worker, mother) and Maria Villa Largacha (educator, curator, researcher) will facilitate the sessions. They have been members/developers of the M-OTHERS Working Group with Lotta Esko since 2023. The group works on the role of caregivers using varied methodologies and through intersectional discussion and collaboration spaces.

Questions:

You can reach out to Kemê >>> keme (at) gmx.es <<<