Lise Haller Baggesen

At the intersection of feminism, science fiction, and disco, Mothernism aims to locate the mother-shaped hole in contemporary art discourse. If the proverbial Mother is perhaps perceived as a persona non grata in the art world, because her nurturing nature is at odds with the hyperbolic ideal of the singular artistic genius, Mothernism amplifies her presence, channeling her energy, complexity, and sublime creative potential in a series of intimate and critical reflections.

Mothernism is a nomadic tent camp, audio installation, and book, dedicated to staking out and making speakable the “mother-shaped hole in contemporary art discourse.” Since 2013, the installation has travelled extensively in the United States, Canada, and Europe, including The Contemporary Austin (TX); The Poor Farm in Manawa (WI) A.I.R. Gallery in New York (NY); Astrid Noacks Atelier in Copenhagen (DK) and most recently Le Confort Moderne in Poitiers (F). It served as the mothership for the symposium Mapping the Maternal: Art Ethics and the Anthropocene at University of Alberta (Canada) (2016) and spawned the curatorial project 3am Maternal at Vox Populi in Philadelphia (USA), as well as the international summits The Mothernists I + II in Rotterdam (2015) and Copenhagen (2017). The events hosted panels discussions, performances and presentations of academic and artistic research practices, related to maternal (aest-)ethics and the politics and poetics of care work, and were presented in collaboration with M/other Voices (NL) and The Royal Danish Academy of Art (DK).