Mothernist II: Representation and Maintenance of Mothers' Art by Dyana Gravina

Here is the transcription of part of her presentation.

” I am here not just as a mother. I am here today as an art practitioner producer and the founder of a social enterprise called Procreate Project. Although being a mother is integrated, most of the time, with whole the rest, by choice and due to personal circumstances.

I am not an academic, and as much as I love listening and learning just for the seek of debating and sharing ideas, I am not the right person to talk about theories or history. But, as an activist, I can offer my practice.

PRACTICE as making
PRACTICE as mothering
Practice as STRUCTURES
PRACTICE as FINANCIALS
PRACTICE as PRACTICAL
PRACTICE AS solutions
PRACTICE AS CHOICE
PRACTICE AS SPACE
PRACTICE as physical representation of WHAT is being discussed.

4 years ago I had the vision to build from scratch an institution which would support artists developing and maintaining their roles as artists within the creative industries alongside their new maternal experience, without having necessarily to compromise either of their practices.

It seems still that the only option considered, to make the ‘Making’ possible, is separation, to leave the children in someone else care and so come the struggles to find solutions around what it seems the only acceptable setting.

In response to that, and in response to urge to actually claim my rights to mother, it is a priority then for me and who works behind PCP to research and find new structures and models that can offer solutions and opportunities to choose, time time what works best for everyone personal circumstances, the flexibility and the welcoming environment to choose the absence or the presence of the children, when debating about mothering, when making art, when being part of an audience, when being women, mothers in this society.
Up until today, with PCP, we have produced several interdisciplinary initiatives, commissioned works, offered representation and opportunities for artists across all art forms, and it all has been done independently and self-funded.

After a lot of listening and a very interesting cultural exchange with international artists, Space, seemed to be what they where craving the most so the Mother House, a new model of art studio with integrated childcare, was born. How it works in practice …

Is not about giving one only answer to all the questions, but is about creating some options together with some recognition. “