[m]others

About the project

[m]others is a project that aims to raise awareness of the complexity of parenthood and of the creative condition of being in a relationship, pursuing the definition of the individual as a being who needs recognition in order to identify himself.

The [m]others project is a resident program that supported the efforts of 9 Romanian artists in the creation of musical, choreographic and plastic products in relation to their identity as mothers. The proposed residences focused on the process of reflection on their relationship with their own children, the emotional distances between them, as well as the individuality of each of these relationships.

The project created a common research space, which included practice exchange sessions, collective research and individual research, as well as a series of 6 workshops open to the local community of parents and children, divided by age segments.

The work process within the residencies gave rise to an exhibition and a collective performance.

The presence of a dance therapist in the project resulted in the creation of a pre- and post-natal education program for mothers at a maternity hospital in Constanța.

Also, part of the [m]others project involved co-opting a cultural producer for the development of future projects.

About exhibition and performance

The [m]others project ended with the presentation of an exhibition that contained the paintings of the mother and visual artist, Otilia Cadar, the experimental films What do you do when you stick out your tongue? (dir. Silvia Niculae, 7’56”, 2021) and Mareele unei mame cuminti (dir. Silvia Niculae & Alexandra Bălășoiu, 19’01”, 2021) as well as drawings made by children in the shared workspace with [m]others from summer 2021.

[m]others performance, held on September 25 at ARCUB, marked the end of the project by bringing to the public the collective creation of mothers during the work process within the residents.

The 7 mother artists, to whom a daughter and another artist were organically added, performed on stage the power to procreate, the power to contain, the power to let flow, the power to embrace infinity, the power to be helpless, the power to feed, the power to be eaten, the power to heal, the power to accompany until the last moment.

Readarticles written by the artists in the project: Loredana Larionescu about [mothers], Teodora Moroșanu about [mothers] and Otilia Cadar about [mothers].

Project credits:

Research Valentina De Piante

Concept and artistic direction: Alexandra Bălășoiu & Valentina De Piante

Created with: Alexandra Bălașoiu, Oana Băluță, Mădălina Dan, Valentina De Piante, Loredana Larionescu, Teodora Moroșanu, Silvia Niculae, Diana Spiridon

Composition, sound design and live vocals: Teodora Moroșanu

Graphics: Oana Baluta

Sound design and DJ exhibition: Bogdan Ciupercă

Light design: Alexandros Raptis

Costumes: Silvia Niculae

Films and photos of the residence: Silvia Niculae
Photos of the event and performance: Alina Ușurelu

About workshops

The structure proposed by [m]others addresses the shortcomings that we have noticed vis-à-vis the already existing activities for children: the short duration makes the journey and preparation longer than the time spent in the spaces that host the events, the parent usually waits and even when activities are dedicated to mixed parent-child groups, parents tend to focus on what the child is learning and experiencing. That’s why we proposed separate classes for children and for mothers that happen in parallel, followed by a joint session where parents and children move together in a creative and playful space.

Every Saturday, by rotation, the mothers from the project (Alexandra Bălășoiu, Diana Spiridon, Oana Băluță, Loredana Larionescu, Teodora Moroșanu, Valentina de Piante) and their guests (Catrinel Catană and Cristina Lilienfeld), proposed various themes and approaches, through contemporary dance workshops, Yoga, manual work, dance-therapy, etc.

The proposed workshops covered a wide range of ages and needs, as follows:

The [m]others workshops continued in the fall of 2021 within the AREAL project space for educational development, implemented by AREAL – Space for Choreographic Development which took the initiative and produced an online format with Smaranda Găbudeanu and Maria Bumbeș.

More about AREAL projects at arealcolectiv.ro
and on https://www.facebook.com/Arealcolectiv/

Project co-financed by the Capital City Hall through ARCUB within the “Bucharest – Open City 2021” Program. The content of this page does not necessarily represent the official position of Bucharest City Hall or ARCUB. For detailed information about the financing program of Bucharest City Hall through ARCUB, you can access www.arcub.ro.

As part of the [m]others project, we opened a call to co-opt a female creative force, passionate about management and production, interested in the conception and realization of projects with meaning, relevance and courage, a person to contribute to the development of the project on long term.

Thus we selected Cristina Ispas, who together with the [m]others collective developed project ideas organically outlined within the work process.

Between August and October 2021, she participated in collective meetings and sessions @AREAL – Space for choreographic development in Bucharest, wrote 3 projects to obtain funding and supported the production of the collective public event at the end of the project in the form of an exhibition and a performance the [m]others.

An Indie Box project.

Hosted by: AREAL – space for choreographic development

Supported by the Capital City Hall through ARCUB

Sponsors: Fishermen’s Stop

Partners: Nativia Clinic, Armonia Hospital.

Cultural project co-financed by the National Cultural Fund Administration. The program does not necessarily represent the position of the National Cultural Fund Administration. AFCN is not responsible for the content of the project or how the results of the project may be used. These are entirely the responsibility of the beneficiary of the funding.