What do we mean when we talk about care?

As part of the ‘Women in Revolt’ conference at Tate Britain, this out loud reading group responded to current debates on the need for art institutions to be more ‘accessible’ and ‘inclusive,’ touching on intersectional feminist explorations of care and access, collectivity and healing.

Readings opened up questions about the different associations and political urgencies of terms including ‘care,’ ‘hospitality,’ ‘access’ and ‘access intimacy.’ Highlighting how art institutions have both co-opted and wilfully misconstrued practices of care, the session points to how we might care for one another better, while also pushing cultural institutions to take better care of us.

The session was contextualised and introduced by Helena Reckitt and Beth Bramich of the Feminist Duration Reading Group.

Discussions during the session highlighted the problematics of an event branded as care-oriented that met in a room without ventilation or PPE.

Readings
Together we read selections from:
• Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, from ‘Care Webs: Experiments in Creating Collective Access,’ in Care Work: Dreaming Disability Justice, Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press, 2018, pp41-47

introduced by guest artist Leah Clements

• Johanna Hedva, Sick Woman Theory, 2020 (based on original essay in Mask Magazine, 2016)
• Johanna Hedva, Why It’s Taking So Long, Topical Cream, 2022
introduced by Katrin Lock of the Feminist Duration Reading Group