(m)other voices:

The maternal as an attitude, maternal thinking and the production of knowledge

(m)other voices is a research project whose aim is to reflect on the maternal figure as a thinker and a producer of knowledge, rather than as a subject of representation and as a domestic figure inseparable from human emotions. Through considering maternity as a verb, as a type of labor, rather than as a noun pointing to a fixed, physiological state of being, the notion of maternity will be examined here as an attitude and as a discipline in the production of art and knowledge. Just like all disciplines develop and nurture distinctive ways of thinking, there is a type of thinking that arises from the work of mothers. After all, all mothering work, regardless of ones sex and gender, is a work of constant welcoming of otherness and change. Maternal work cultivates a type of thinking produced by a conscious, committed daily practice dedicated to the non-violent struggle of not hurting that what is strange and that whose unfolding one cannot control.[1] This repeated creative experience of bearing witness and nurturing ‘the other’ acts here as an opening for the reflection on notions central to the work of many artists, scholars and cultural producers, perhaps even more so recently because of the current socio-economical state of things. These notions include collaboration, participation, reciprocity, hospitality, violence, otherness, care, ethics and economics of exchange to name a few.

The project brings together scholars, writers, artists, curators and historians from Finland, Iceland, Turkey, Denmark, England and the Netherlands and will be launched together with Oda Projesi (Istanbul) in Copenhagen in the summer 2013.  (m)other voices takes place through specifically framed human encounters, exchanges and contributions between people from various disciplines and backgrounds, who are engaged in the subject. In ‘Maternal Encounters: The Ethics of Interruption’, Lisa Baraitser looks at the maternal subject as a subject of constant interruption. [2] One of the central questions (m)other voices asks is how does this interruption to the continuity of ones Self, begin to inform, shape and effect ones methodology and mode of production? Can such a thing as maternal ethics be formulated in relation to the production of knowledge and art?

[1] Maternal Thinking, Toward a Politics of Peace, Sarah Ruddick, Beacon Press, Boston, 2002. Pp. 73.

[2] ‘Maternal Encounters: The Ethics of Interruption’, Lisa Baraitser, Routledge, New York, 2009.

The World Turned Inside Out. Courtesy of APFEL.

The World Turned Inside Out

25 May-18 August 2013 (and onwards)

Drafting from unexpected maps and novel courses of knowledge to reactivate pre-modern anchors, Witte de With enables the development of knowledge in collaboration with a set of international protagonists who, by linking and delinking across fields and practices, seek to debunk historical narratives guided by traditional educational models.  These investigations set in motion new paths of inquiry respectively, replete with desire, curiosity, and speculation.

The World Turned Inside Out  is a radiating program of inquiries, instigated by Julieta Aranda,Kader Attia, Aslı Çavuşoğlu, Shezad Dawood, Landings (Natasha Ginwala and Vivian Ziherl, with Roberto Chabet, Bonita Ely, Rana Hamadeh, Irene Kopelman, Tejal Shah, Terue Yamauchi),Jennifer Wen Ma, and Ho Tzu Nyen. It launches at Witte de With this summer with a constellation of objects, subjects and guest participants. In conjunction with The World Turned Inside Out, a series of concurrent events will further activate ongoing lines of inquiry, beginning in Copenhagen with Deirdre M. Donoghue. (dmdvisuals@gmail.com)

For more information on The World Inside Out:

http://www.wdw.nl/event/the-world-turned-inside-out/

http://www.e-flux.com/announcements/summer-2013-program/