Why does the term mother, especially in the art scene, often has a negative connotation?

For the artists of the collective, the concept of motherhood is central. They shape their discourse through collective artistic processes. The collective includes the artists as well as their children. It is about the connection between care work and the creative process. In contrast to the art scene, where mothers are often concerned with separating family and care work from artistic work in order to be efficiently available, the work of the collective is about a clear integration of children and care work. Their artistic practice uses integrative, community-oriented experiments as alternatives to traditional structures of art production.

Which (artistic) perspectives do artists develop in parenthood during the pandemic?

The pandemic made the work of the collective almost impossible. Because the digital alternative would always have meant sitting in front of the computer with the children. But that quickly lost its appeal. So the adult artists remained in lively exchange to develop different writing practices with each other. Basically, however, each was far more concerned with organizing her own family life. Fortunately, there is the fruitful experience of the years before the pandemic, so there is enough motivation now to slowly pick up the thread of working together again, sharing space, time and authorship.

Maria Walser