Welcome to Women's work as creative Practice
in august-september 2023, a series of exhilarating and generative creative gatherings were held at the origins centre at university of witwatersrand, johannesburg. 25 artist-women and thinkers, mainly South African, gathered around the broad topic of women's work as artistic practice.
the gatherings created intimate spaces for artist-women to share their stories of creativity, resilience, and care around themes that are critical to them. they provoked, questioned, and reframed how we exist in the world as individuals, in community, and in relation to all other living beings.
this website serves as both, a thoughtful reflection on the gatherings and their underlying themes, and a living repository that is intended to grow over time.
it aims to contribute to a kinder, gentler, more caring (art) world that would, could, and should hold space for artist-women through all life’s phases. it is grounded in a shared commitment to reimagining how we create, nurture, and relate to one another. it is a space where creativity, labour, and care intersect powerfully to build collective energy committed to creating a more supportive and compassionate world.
.svg)
ORIENTATION
this film piece and the accompanying text by dr laura de harde in her capacity as ‘writer at large‘ titled Interwoven Voices: Artist-Women in Conversation set the tone for how to engage with this repository. they give a brief overview of the gatherings, touching on how they came about, their intentions and the critical themes addressed. they briefly introduce the voices within this space, and describe the value system that underpinned how the creative gatherings unfolded.
the reflective and critical perspectives that laura suggests in her text offer an overarching framework for navigating the contents of this repository.
CURATORIAL STATEMENT
candice’s text if these weaves could talk highlights the creative, curatorial and academic significance of this repository which is situated within a framework of curatorial ethics, transparency, and care. our process of archive-making was approached collaboratively to foreground the voices of our specific demographic of artists working in SA today–female, mainly mothers, making ‘thinking’ art that is deeply invested in long-term development, rather than short-term commercial goals. archive-making is a labour of caregiving, that requires care for source materials and the communities represented within an archive. given how official archives privilege patriarchal, colonial history and narratives, this repository creates an ‘alternative’ archive of women’s work as artistic practice.
Our value system
Informed by a clear value system, the creative gatherings unfolded in a generous way
Supportive Environment
Facilitating a nurturing and supportive space for participants to share ideas
Mutual Respect
Fostering mutual respect, integrity, and tolerance
Humility and self reflection
Probing our shared experience with kindness, understanding and humility to uncover the essence of what motivates us to create
Community Building
Orientating towards developing a network/tribe/support structure for artist-women and academics
this repository pulls together the incredible talent and creativity of our specific demographic of artists working in south africa today – female, mainly mothers, making ‘thinking’ art that is deeply invested in long-term development, rather than short-term commercial goals. we speak about our experiences in our own voices, providing insights into our complex experiences and daily realities. by encouraging cultural debate, the repository claims space for this demographic of artist-women
four evenings of gatherings were held in august september 2023 at the origins centre, wits, each of which comprised a keynote provocation, four speakers and a moderated panel discussion around a varied aspect of the theme of women's work as artistic practice
The themes addressed were:
acknowledgements
we are grateful to the organizations and individuals who made these gatherings and this repository possible. your support has enabled us to create a very significant repository that allows artist-women in south africa today to represent ourselves with our own voices about topics that are critical to us
convened and co-curated by bev butkow alongside her exhibition re-weaving m/other
co-curated by candice allison
supported by the national arts council south africa
supported by guns & rain, contemporary african art
hosted by origins centre, university of witwatersrand, johannesburg
https://www.wits.ac.za/origins/
facilitated by dr tammy hodgskiss reynard, curator, acting head, origins centre
catered by lady day
designs and film production by spirit.photo
