Talking Collectively – Mother Artists
With Hettie Judah, Laure Prouvost, Sophia Satchell Baeza, and Vida Dena.
Moderated by Christina Stuhlberger

WE 18.06 13:00 till 15:00 FREE

This roundtable conversation brings together artists, cultural workers, and others to reflect on how parenthood intersects with artistic practices. We will discuss the difficulties, contradictions, structural pressures, moments of joy, and often invisible struggles that come with navigating care and creativity.

Hettie Judah, author of How Not To Exclude Artist Mothers (and Other Parents) and Acts of Creation: On Art and Motherhood, will share insights from her long-term engagement with the topic, offering concrete strategies for structural change in the art world alongside reflections on the ongoing tensions between caregiving and cultural work. She will be joined by artist and filmmaker Laure Prouvost, film curator and editor Sophia Satchell Baeza, and artist and filmmaker Vida Dena, in a conversation moderated by Christina Stuhlberger from elephy.

The afternoon includes an experimental film screening suitable for children, curated by Sophia Satchell Baeza followed by collaging workshop around motherhood led by Vida Dena.

While the title centers mothers, the conversation tries to be inclusive to all with caregiving responsibilities in the cultural field. At the same time, we acknowledge the deeply gendered realities and long histories of undervalued labor that continue to shape the experience of motherhood.

Free entry. Everyone is welcome, cultural workers with children, without children, unsure if parenting is possible within practice, and children themselves.

Realized as part of Double Voiced, an artistic research project by Christina Stuhlberger at LUCA School of Arts / KU Leuven.

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Exploring Motherhood Through Art
Collaging workshop with Vida Dena

WE 18.06 15:15 till 16:30 FREE

In this hands-on workshop, participants are invited to explore the emotional landscapes of motherhood through collage and drawing. Together we will reflect on themes such as transformation, confusion, and the often-overlooked feelings of guilt, loneliness, and disorientation that can accompany the experience of becoming a mother.

Each participant is welcome to reconnect with a part of their own story, whether it is the fear of childbirth, the weight of societal expectations, the isolation of early parenthood, or the frustration of feeling unseen or undervalued.

Through images, textures, and color, we will create space to express what is often difficult to put into words. This is less about artistic skill and more about giving form to the unsaid and doing so together.

about elephy

elephy is an artist-run, Brussels-based production and distribution platform for film and media art. It supports its productions by providing them with professional framework which ensures that they can be made with the greatest artistic freedom. In 2019, elephy initiated MIA (Moving Image Atelier) and became a member of the open platform PAM (Platform for Audiovisual and Media arts). elephy is run by the artists and co-founders Rebecca Jane Arthur, Eva Giolo and Christina Stuhlberger.

The Games We Play

Play is often thought of as a rehearsal for life, a space where rules are tested, identities shift, and the imagination runs ahead of circumstance. The Games We Play brings together six short works that explore how play becomes a way of knowing, coping, resisting, and remembering.

This screening takes place alongside the public conversation and workshop on motherhood and artistic practice. While the activities unfold, the films will play in a nearby space set up for parents and children to watch together: a quiet corner for shared attention, gentle images, and the possibility to be present without needing to perform.

Children’s Game #1: Caracoles (Francis Alÿs, 1999), 6 mins

Pas de panique, les cromagnons sont là (Atelier Graphoui, 1986), 12 mins

Children’s Game #31: Slakken (Francis Alÿs, 2021), 6 mins

The Breathing Lesson (Dora Garcia, 2001), 6 mins

Jump (Shelly Silver, 1994), 1 min 14

A Day for Cake and Accidents (Jessie Mott, Steve Reinke, 2012), 4 mins