Sensefils

Sensefils

Art curator: Carla Bossi Viqueira

Art Exhibition – Performance – Debate- Documentary film

In March of 2017, for the Civic Center of Barceloneta’s Annual Exhibition for Women’s History Month, I called upon artists to question the premise of motherhood as the fulfillment of a woman’s identity and as a duty of our gender role.

“On demand”

Francesc Fusté Saus.

Resinas acrílicas, 2017


I asked artists to reflect on the concept of women who choose not to become mothers. In today’s society, is maternal instinct a biological phenomenon? Is it a myth or a social mandate?

Nowadays a “romantic” vision of motherhood prevails in opposition to the “selfishness” of those who do not want to procreate.


“The universal desire to proceate is a mith”

Paola Idrontino
Photography, 2017

What are the fears involved in the decision not to become a mother? Women face a solemn and emotional decision not to gestate, exacerbated by our short reproductive life as opposed to that of men. Do men choose their paternity? Are they judged differently if they refuse that biological and social function?

This exhibition seeks to be a pulse of the current views, prejudices, benefits and fears of NO maternity as well as a reaction to the notion that life that must involve having children.




“Not being a mother reafirms as a women”
Noelia Ramos.
Photography.

“Siria woman”
Saed Salloum.
Acrílic.

"Almost all feminist positions about motherhood
they start from the fact that most women want to be mothers"



Beatriz Gimeno
Writer, activist and feminist

“You never talk about regretting being a mother. Little room is given to the retrospective view of mothers in the story of their stories. There is no place for revaluation”

Extract from the book “#Regretting motherhood” 

Orna Donath
Sociologist, writer

“Part oh the birth”

Magdalena Serna
Técnica mixta, 2017


The exhibition was titled SENSEFILS. In Catalan, the word fil (thread) is very similar to fill (son). The title is a play on words that paints daughters and sons as threads that we weave, that cling to us, that unite us, that trap us, and so on.

“Introduction (without foreword)”
María Pérez Gil
Photography.






“iMama”
Albert Álvarez Marsal.
Digital Image with ilustrattor. 2017

“The red string to destiny”, “To kill the nother”,
“Toxi-Octopus mother”, “Mauvaise femme” y más.
Zab y Manel Chico.
Técnica mixta y fotografía.



“Shared custody””

Clara Trucco.

Maternity in a couple of artists.




Vaginopink_ValeriaBallerini_2

“Vaginopink”

Valeria Ballerini.

. Quotes from pop songs about women without maternityd.

“Sewing””

Eloisa Alquati.

Explores the expectations of maternity, gender inheritance, and the legacy delivered from mother to mother.
.



We made a debate with Orna Donath, Resarch Sociologist  Author of “Regretting Motherhood” (2016), 

y con Bruna Álvarez, Social Antropologist Specializes in the difficulties and challenges Catalan women face when they decide to have families.


brunaalvarez-sensefils

Orna Donath

Bruna Álvarez

Some of the questions

With modern systems of conception such as in vitro fertilization and surrogate motherhood, does science pressure rather than help us?

The choice of motherhood: is it a “privilege” in the middle class? [O! Is it a “privilege” reserved for the middle class? 

What has culture told us about motherhood?

As an artist and curator, I felt the need to include the voices of generations outside of the traditional reproductive stage. For this we recorded a documentary with neighbors of the Civic Center of Barceloneta, including women and men under 20 years old and over 50 years old. The documentary records honest conversations about the experiences of motherhood and fatherhood; the choices, frustrations and the expectations involved in the decision to have offspring or not.




Cámara y Montaje: Raquel Quesada Giner.

Sonido: Albert Bataller Balaguer y Lara Senra.

Subtítulos: Laia Robusté



Carla Bossi Viqueira

www.txtarte.com

donamobra@gmail.com

Ilustración de portada: Francesc Fusté Saus
Comic: “Mafalda” de Quino
Fotografías: Maria Angeles Alonso y Nicolas Riente
Diseño web: Iñaki Allende

Please contact me to learn more about the artists included in the exhibition..

2017 – Barcelona, España

This post is also available in: Spanish Catalan