S MOM. EXTENDED BODIES – Kaunas – Viena – Berlin

SPACES:
“Meno parkas”, Kaunas, Lituania.
http://www.menoparkas.lt/

“MinusZwei”, Viena, Austria.
http://www.minusoffspace.com/

“Grüntaler9”, Berlin, Germany.
http://www.gruentaler9.com/

KAUNAS
„Meno parkas“ gallery (Rotušės a. 27, 44279)
4-12 November
video program/exhibition
4-27 November

VIENNA
13-19 November
“MinusZwei” off space (Domgasse 6, AT1010)
video program/exhibition
Supported by: Instituto cultural Mexicano and the University of applied arts of Vienna

BERLIN:
27 November
“Grüntaler9” performance space (Grüntaler Straße 9, 13357)
co-curated with Teena Lange and Adriana Disman
video program/exhibition
Live performance by Nathalie Anguezomo Mba Bikoro
Discussion/Artist talk

PARTICIPANTS 
Larysa Bauge (BY)
Surya Tüchler (DE)
Isabel León (ES)
Alice De Visscher (BE)
Alejandra Herrera Silva (CL)
Anaïs Héraud-Louisadat (FR)
Regina Jose Galindo (GT)
Ruth Biene (DE)
Casey Jenkins (AU)
Nathalie Anguezomo Mba Bikoro (GA)
Dyana Gravina (IT)
Nel Acosta Bravo (VE)
Johanna Folkmann (AT)
Nancy Gewölb (CL)
Alexia Miranda (SV)
Marija Griniuk (LT)
Guadalupe Aldrete (MX)
Vaida Tamoševičiūtė (LT)

ABOUT THE PROJECT

S Mom is growing rapidly and this year we are presenting 16 amazing artists, including one work by each of the curators – Guadalupe Aldrete and Vaida Tamoševičiūtė. We create this international network, encouraging estranged topics of (non)motherhood to stay connected, to belong, to state our tribe through performance art.

The works shown in this selection reveal two parallel levels of information. On the one hand, the conceptual and artistic content that the author herself decided to share, in which she relates her relationship to (non)motherhood, the external and internal tensions that these entail, such as the relationship with herself and with the “product” (as a newborn is called in some Spanish speaking countries), as well as in many cases the violence (even physical) to which pregnant women are subjected. On the other hand, in a subtle and almost invisible way, the technical aspects of each video reflect the often precarious circumstances in which artists, especially mothers, are forced to create and share their work.

The sense of the lockdown is tangible in some of the videos. Bodies are thirsty for live connection and audience; while new mothers were familiar with this feeling for a long time before the pandemic, COVID made isolation a shared feeling. Performing for the camera, searching for new perspectives of embodiment, even when the body is not present anymore, one can feel it rooted in the gaze, in a feeling of space by the sometimes absent performer.

Mothers, (non)mothers, hurt children inside of all of us. Various topics and approaches that matter, that are a mirror of our society and yet are so little known and seen. We think these aspects of our lives should be discussed more loudly, more proudly, more bravely. The extensions we let from ourselves connect us to others. Living through a cycle of women’s bodies – no matter whether they are mothers or not, there are things which connect us – a common language of Creation, our bodies are mostly craving for. Thus we leave our small traces of care.