Birth Rites Collection collaborated with Procreate Project for Oxytocin 2019: Mothering the World.
The one-day symposium and programme of live art and performance uniquely melded works which were staged across Guys Campus at Kings College London with discussion panels and workshops. We delivered a performance programme responding to a curatorial theme questioning iconography, cultural connotations and stereotypes associated with the word ‘Mother/Mothering’ and how they effect LGBTQIA families. We also ran tours of the Collection with our own Helen Knowles and Hermione Wiltshire. These were very well attended.
Performance sites included; The General Medical Classroom, The Guys Chapel (seen above), the ancient medical school corridors surrounded by statues of old alumni and more recent sculptures by Billie Bond from the Birth Rites Collection, the Keats memorial arch and the contemporary New Hunts House.
The Collection’s most recent acquisitions, Giving Birth to Beauty by Himali Singh Soin and Once you care, you’re future by Laura Yuile were both commissioned for Oxytocin 2019 and reject the idea of the binary and the problems this representation poses for non-binary perspectives and those who cannot – or choose not to – reproduce. Performed in the Cloisters of King's College London, Guy's Campus, Himali Singh Soin's performance was outstanding with excellent reviews from passersby, who were so moved as to write in to the artist and congratulate her. Meanwhile, Laura Yuile's durational performance sparked the intrigue and interaction of participants, and their children, who encountered the work as they entered New Hunt's House. These fantastic works are now permanently in the Birth Rites Collection.
What our visitors thought:
“It was great to be at King's College and see the Birth Rites Collection there, the presentation of the Collection was great. The art performances were excellent and they gave a lovely visual, concrete experience of the maternal. I really appreciated the theoretical, experiential and practical approach to the day. Excellent event!”
"I loved the different varieties of talks, very informative and delivered in an amazing way. Although this event was from an art perspective, the links between medical and art were done so wonderfully, and brought up a lot of questions for me in a positive way."
"The tour of the Collection was amazing!"