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A collective curatorial message

The voices “What are Caring Arts?” are “our” voices on how we experience(d) Caring Arts. We wrote down what it means to us. We are delighted to share some of our collective and individual work here on this website.

Who are we?

We are a group of people who found each other by joining a project that started in 2022 called “Caring Arts”. Some of us joined all the time, some joined later, some took a break. We are: care-receivers, care-givers, care-takers, and we are in mutual care relationships. We are trans* and non-binaries, women, men, disabled, neurodivergent, queers, artists, curators, activists, educators, and so much more.

This is our collective curatorial message for you.

Curating, as a term feels abstract and comes from the art world. Curating comes from the Latin word curare and means caring. Caring Arts for us means to create accessible braver spaces for art creation. Curation gives value to this work of care. Care work is invisible labor and still under-paid in society. Therefore, curating / caring becomes important.
So our collective curatorial message is also a collective care work message. We will center here the care work and therefore collective curatorial work done to make Caring Arts happen.

What does Collective Curation mean?

It does not only mean sharing the responsibilities and tasks. It also is about sharing the process of it. Everyone from the group contributed to this website in their own way. They did so according to their capacities and interests. Some people created the artworks on this page. Some people did the accessibility work like image and audio descriptions. Some people discussed the concept and website design. Some people wrote this text. Much more work was done that is not visible on this page. Together, we worked continuously over several months on this website. We mutually added to each other´s art, gave feedback, discussed, supported in its creation and helped in making each other´s work more accessible. It was a fluid process and many different people took part over time. Some joined in and then left again, depending on their energy or capacities or spoons. Real participation is only possible if people are also allowed to be absent.

Collective curation is for us a practice from the perspective of care and accessibility. Collective curation is collective accessing, organizing, cleaning, listening, translating, interpreting, writing, re-writing, mopping up, queering, describing, gentle reminding, disagreeing and cripping. Collective Curation sometimes feels like a long waiting, for some it feels too slow, for others too fast. Collective Curation is about receiving and giving care on many levels and has a political dimension. It´s about trusting that if you cannot do it at the moment, someone else might take over. If not now and not tomorrow, then whenever the time is right.

All of this means Collective Curation to us.

Appreciation and thank you​

Collective curation is an anti-ableist practice. It´s important to name the origins and the struggles associated with it. Similar to the term “queer”, the word “care” is used a lot. But their origins are often neglected, forgotten and everything is totally watered down. Collective curation as anti-ableist practice means for us to name the contribution of disabled, neurodivergent and mad activists, who came before us and to name thereby where this care discourse actually comes from.

We also want to thank the diverse community of collective curators in the past and present that lay the foundations for us. We also want to thank each other. We have given up a fixed hierarchy in favor of the process. Our collective curatorial work is not finished, neither is this text. We dedicate this text to all the people who were there and those who could not be there:

Thank you Ari, Bolle, Dunia, Fanny, Fine, Godzilla, Janine, Josipa, Kira, Lena, Melli-Mellow, Michaela, Mira, Miri, Maria, Maryna, Nastia, Pia, RC, Rowdy, Stone, Tima, Vica, Ziliä and thank you dear beloved people, who prefer to be not named. Also thank you to all those who care(d) for us and others in the creation process. They are just as important. And thank you for your interest, for reading this. For caring. By this, you also became a part of this Collective Care work.

Thank you, …


Agnes for making a blind access check for this website. 

 

Ari for your inspiring, incredible and caring work of accessibility dramaturgy when doing audio and image descriptions for this website.

 

Bolle for co-creating a video on this website and supporting creative process.

 

Dunia for writing the application, for being part of the organisation group for a long time and especially for your endless hours of organizing, hosting and doing access work to make the Vienna Lab possible while being a great care-taker for Miri; for your art and words on this website.

 

Educat Kollektiv for providing the financial, burocratic and technical infrastructure for this project and encouraging and giving Fine the freedom and time and therefore money to engage in this project as much as needed and wanted.

 

Fanny for writing the application, being part of the organisational team, for sharing your stories & perspective, wisdom & knowledge, sadness & joy; for your emotional labour;
for sharing methods and guiding us through mediations; for your calm and empowering presence.

 

Fine,for creating wunderful artworks and toughful illustrations, that stay as lively memories of the two labs. For all your feelings, your energy and joy, your Enthusiasmus, your care work and your refreshing and haircolors that started more than one conversation. For your creative problem solvings and continuity in the project over the whole time its running. For being essential part of the organisational team, as such a caring organizer and holding the project infrastructures together from being part in funding and concept writing to the coordination of the labs and to curating the
website, as well as all the invisible work like background communication and billing.

 

Godzilla for co-creating a video on this website, for access and care work, and supporting the creative process.

 

Janine for translating some of the texts on this website to Easy and simple Language and being very patient and understanding with us.

 

Josipa for writing the application, being part of the organisational team, for offering to host and spending days to find accessible ways so it could happen in Croatia, for always being there with your experience and calm and caring way when one of us felt
insecure and worried.

 

Kira for conceptualizing and writing the application, for being a part of the organisational team, for always prioritizing access, Covid Saftey and access work; for continously educating us with your inputs, by sharing your feelings, by preparing
presentations and creating texts; for always remembering those missing; for turning Vienna upside down to save one of us; for hosting a beautiful workshop; for putting in countless hours of access work for this website, especially with the audio and image
descriptions; for your art and content on this website.

 

Lena for your opennness to join in later and your commitment to staying until the very end; for writing big parts of this curatorial message; for your inspiring workshop format and your invaluable perspectives; for your kneating art on this website; for your care work for the collective, making sure that meetings are prepared, that everyone is as informed and included as possible, that we take enough breaks and that everybody is alright.

 

Melli-Mellow for contributing with a video to this website, for access and care work during a Lab and supporting the creative process.

 

Michaela for participating and giving a workshop in Munich, for sharing your experience and acitivities with us, for bringing Pia and for your openness to discuss and learn.

 

Mira for making us smile, for being adorable and patient with us adults despite being boring a lot.

 

Miri for co-designing the accessibility needs survey for participants, for participating and giving dreamy workshops that inspired our fantasy and made us envision Caring Arts; for trusting us when you needed support.

 

Maria for doing templates and excels for the finances, for numerous transfers and payments and for continously taking care that the numbers actually add up in the end.

 

Maryna for participating in Munich and your perspectives that would have wanted and deserved more space.

 

Nastia for the openness to joining in later; for doing stimming cushions for us; for participating and giving a joyful workshop and share your perspectives and art content on this website.

 

Pia for your presence and participation in Munich and your beautiful words and thoughts. 

 

RC for everything! For the welcome mediations, for your organisational work, for access work, for handmade eye masks, for poems, for thoughts and words and sounds, for your commitment to stay until the end, for your calm and warm presence, for your humour and your inspirations.

 

Rowdy for contributing with a video to this website and supporting Stone´s creative process.

 

Stone for participating, for hosting us and organizing the space in Munich, for giving a workshop and sharing your art, for being an enormous source of joy, for contributing with a video to this website.

 

Tima for designing and creating this website for too little money and for being patient and caring with us for months and months and months. 

 

Vica for bringing us together and connecting us and conceptualizing the project and writing the application without which there would be no Caring Arts at all.

 

Ziliä for sharing your stories that inspire your wonderful art and trusting us with it and for creating a video to share with others for this website. 

 

… and thank you dear beloved people, who prefer to be not named. 

 

Also thank you to all those who care(d) for us and others in the creation process. They are just as important. 

 

And thank YOU for your interest, for reading this. For caring. By this, you also became a part of this Collective Care work.

 

This is our collective curatorial message for you.

 

 

CREDITS

Access work: Kira
(Image and audio description) , Ari (Image and audio description), RC
(Website,), Lena (internal Team access) , Janine (Easy Language)

Artists: Kira, Miri,
Nastia, Dunia, Fanny, Lena, RC, Stone, Rowdy, Ziliä, Bolle,
Melli-Mellow, Gorilla, Anonymous

Care work: Kira,
Josipa, Dunia, Fanny, Fine, Lena, RC…

Concept and funding:
Vica, Kira, Josipa, Dunia, Fanny, Fine

Curation of the
Website: Kira, Fine, RC, Lena, Fanny

Organisation &
Coordination: Kira, Fine, Dunia, Josipa, Fanny, Lena

Workshops: Michaela,
Kira, Miri, Stone, Nastia, RC, Lena

Technical
implementation and website design: Tima

Finances &
Accounting: Educat Kollektiv (Fine & Maria)

 

Explore the artworks:​

These are the 6 photos of Dunia's artwork. The artwork is called "No Name". Together they form a collage. Dunia has experimented with the photo view and changed the size of the photo by zooming in. The attention is drawn to the parent and the child lying down, surrounded by finger painting and embroidery. Dunia has called it the centre. This centre is enlarged or reduced in the 6 photos in six variations.

No Name

The work „No Name“ which is compiled of different elements in mixed media presents the viewer with the reality of a parent-care-giver, between personal experiences, queer feminism, and society internalized as well as externalized prejudice. Thorn between loving, caring, fighting and surviving, a parent-care-giver finds themselves in a world that is inflexible, hostile and is not opened to the understanding of their reality.
It´s a picture by Fine that they painted at the Caring Arts Lab in Munich after going on Miri´s dream journey. Fine tells: „I have painted a picture that shows a moment of caring. It shows a footbath and arms washing legs in this footbath. The background is white with many thin black lines reminiscent of waves. The picture has a black frame. With the picture, I wanted to preserve the memories of the feelings from that moment. I am at home with a friend and she is washing my feet and looking after me. At first I was ashamed because my feet were dirty and I didn't like them, but then I felt very safe because she was taking care of me. The water is pleasantly lukewarm, the stone she uses to remove the calluses has a rough surface and scratches, but doesn't hurt. Her hands are soft. It was a very intimate moment. Maybe that's why the black round footbath has the profiles of me and my friend on the top and bottom edges. At the time, I had a turquoise hairstyle with bangs. I also painted my lips turquoise. My friend had black hair and bangs at the time. I painted her lips an ultramarine blue color. I wanted to show our bond through the colors. The water in the footbath changes color. The turquoise from me and the ultramarine blue from my friend run towards each other, spread out and mix in some places. This causes the colors to change their tones. I wanted to show how this connection came about.“

Dream Journey

Many people have a place where they feel comfortable. It can be a place of your past, your present life or maybe a dream place of your future. With this guided dream journey you have the chance to travel to your place and enjoy yourself there. After you return from our journey, you can get creative. Maybe you want to show your place in a picture, in a poem or a scenic performance.
It is a photo of three different types of green neon play dough on a black background. They have different colors and textures. I wanted to show that there is not only transformability, but also vulnerability.

Kneaded Spaces

Kneaded Spaces are an invitation to knead with Lena while listening to or reading their piece. Kneaded Spaces are a critique on in_accessibility, exclusion and ableism of spaces. The practice to knead with, is to think and produce spaces together. Furthermore it opens possibilities for spaces of joy, a joy that messes up with the norm of ability. The Audio piece is accompanied by a picture and the written text. This is an invitation to knead with Lena. You can use dough, play doh, selfmade salt doh, slime, clay or earth.
In the photo is a closeup of water surface of a pond on a sunny day. It's a very warm and calming image for me because there are several interesting textures to look at. I like the warm green of the tree reflection, the yellow of the shallow shore and the brown of the underwater plants. The waves are small. The water makes fleeting movements. Darker tree shadows, small pale blue sky reflections and softly glowing pond reflections interact with each other and have flowing shapes. I liked watching these water movements on this warm sunny day.

A Story about Autistic & ADHD brain

In this article, the author invites readers to take a quick look at how autism and ADHD can affect everyday life. The author, who is a low support needs Autistic with ADHD, shows their thought process behind writing the article. Including all the side stories, random connections, and critique of systems of oppression.
I have painted various objects and graphic elements on a white background. These are for example: Stim Toys like a tangle or a cuddly toy octopus. Tangles form the moving elements or lines that divide the page into different segments. The 3 thick curvy lines in black, green and silver are the tangles. They are drawn through various parts of the collage. I also painted a lot of gold-colored curved shapes because they remind me of our relaxed space. That's why I also painted a laptop and Dunia, who provided beanbags. The collage is about our workshops, presentations and exchange of ideas. That's why there are lots of quotes. At the top left, the blue text is written on a pink cloud shape: Caring Arts Lab Vienna, 10-16.09.2023.

Scribbles of Caring Arts

During our collective Caring Arts trips to Munich and Vienna, I drew a collage for each travel in a comic style. I did this in order to concentrate and keep my mind and hands busy. Also, I did so to catch memories and share them with other. This is what I call scribbling. It´s a per-sonal and subjective puzzle of my experience, shapes, colors, items I saw and memories I have. But it also is a collective puzzle as it´s the result of our common work. I invite you to follow me through the pictures and through that into the memories of our ed-ucational travels.
A graphic image of soundwaves: strong blue lines going up and down forming loose frayed shapes on a soft grey background with a deep black line, the pattern repeats again and again slightly different every time

rest

Pronouncing the different sounds in the word rest. After a few seconds the audio starts with rhythmic clicking sound. Then, a voice, slightly moaning and whispering, begins to rattle the letter "R". After few seconds pause, vowels appear together with the R sound. Some seconds later, the voice sizzles the letter "S". The audio ends with the voice repeating the whole word.
It is a picture that I drew myself with a blue pen. On the white background is an abstract blue shape. There are several round angular bulges on the left and right sides. It reminds me a bit of the letter U. It can also remind me of a whale. The part on the left looks a bit like a fish fin. It's triangular and has a notch in the centre. The part on the right is like the open mouth of a whale. The shape also takes up the whole space of the picture like a whale when he comes to the water's surface from the depths. The shape has contours. I painted them in with the same colour. I coloured in the left part with lots of irregular small lines. The right part is rather smooth and even and slightly lighter in colour. At the bottom left is the blue overhead text in English: We carry each other. On the edge in the centre of the shape, the blue text is written in English from bottom to top: I carry you. On one edge on the right-hand side is the blue overhead text in English: You carry me. This picture gives me a sense of calm, just like the blue of the water. It also gives me a feeling of being held in the water.

Experiencing Caring Arts

This text describes my experiences in the Caring Arts project. I write about what happened in our meeting in Munich in September and how I felt about it. I write from the perspective of January 2024, explaining what I learned and how it felt for me to be part of a space where people's needs are important and taken seriously. This space was much slower than other spaces I am usually in. I realized in this process how often I adapt. Because I don't want to disturb. That was painful to realize.
Photo of the silver surface. This is the fabric that Nastya and Kira used to line up their stim objects in photos and videos for "Stim Sharing Guide". There are many folds on the right side. On the left side, light falls on the fabric. It glitters. That's why Kira and Nastia chose this fabric.

Stim Sharing Guide

Stim Sharing Guide by Nastia and Kira is a process of sharing stim questions with each other or just questions and reactions, stim poems, stim videos, and images.

Funded by the European Union. 
Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.

Logo with a flag of the EU and a saying "Co-Funded by the European Union"

Impressum

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