Care and Solidarity

Care and Solidarity is a fun workshop that will look at serious things. Using conversation, colour and fabric, we will explore what happens when systems are built for the institution and not the user. Looking at the invisible wall that’s put up by the use of abbreviations and the frustration of “FOR OFFICE USE ONLY”. Over the course of two hours, we’re going to make protest cushions, because if there’s a delay in action we might as well be comfortable.

Presented as part of the exhibition Still, We Gather.

Leah Hilliard is an artist, educator, researcher and cultural programmer. Her art practice is based in joyful performance and the power of conversation. She regularly participates in research projects in Ireland and internationally. Her work combines fabric with spoken word and oral histories to create narratives through performance, images and audio. Touch, labour, and intense and repetitive tasks are vital, yet often overlooked, aspects of care. Leah is interested in the role of backstage supporters, particularly how women form networks of support for the transfer of information and how the provision of care in private allows for great things to happen in public.