Description:

No work is truly made by an individual, but in a society that values individual celebrity and genius much of the reproductive labour and collaboration is made invisible. Lockdown has highlighted structural inequities and forced many of us to reevaluate the role of care in our lives. The word “vulnerable” has taken on new meaning, representing an entire category of disparate people and the multitude of ways in which we care. This workshop led by Kyla Harris and Lou Macnamara, the creators behind ‘It’s Personal’, asks us to reframe interdependence and collective care as essential features of any creative collaboration. Beyond “inspirational” directives to practice self-care, the pair explore what bringing mutual care to the surface of work can lead to.

In the first half of the workshop, Kyla and Lou will reflect on the filmmaking process and share how through learning to be vulnerable, they could reimagine ethical models of collaboration and collective care structures for the future. In the second half of the workshop, they will invite attendees to take part in a forum discussion, bringing along examples of projects where attendees have had to rethink approaches to collaboration that embrace vulnerability and interdependence.

Collaborators from all practices welcome: arts, film-making, performance, academia, social work, technology, and more.

Produced and released during lockdown, ‘It’s Personal’ is a hybrid-documentary/reality TV challenge in which Kyla and Lou explore what it means to be a ‘key worker’. Kyla requires 24-hour personal assistance with everything from having a wee to making her artwork. Setting themselves an ambitious task, Lou attempts to learn all of Kyla’s care in one week and if she reaches a level of competency, Lou will replace Kyla’s personal assistant and they will spend 24-hours alone for the first time. This is testing for them both – Lou has previously prioritised work over taking care of herself, and Kyla often feels her autonomy is compromised when a friend is ‘helping her out’ instead of her usual paid personal assistants. You can read more about ‘It’s Personal’ here.

About the Speakers:

Kyla Harris
Lou Macnamara

Interloops: Reframing Collaboration

Caraboo Projects are really excited to invite you to ‘Interloops’. The series attends to what are often cast as obstacles in the relationships between collaborators, asking how they may actually be sources of creativity. Inspired by the innovative co-creative practices that have emerged in the last 18 months, these interactive workshops invite you to reframe the ethics, politics, and aesthetics of collaboration with the critical perspectives of artists. If you collaborate in any industry, we welcome you to bring along your experiences to this potlatch of reflections.

Interloops has been produced by Harshadha Balasubramanian and Caraboo Projects

This programme of events has been generously supported by Arts Council England

Access Information:

This talk will take place on Zoom, using video & audio, and you can participate during the Q and A session after the talk (either by voice or text chat). There will also be a BSL interpreter on this workshop.

The workshops will be recorded and available to view via our website following the event.

Main Event Image Description:

In a bedroom filled with daylight, Kyla, a mixed heritage woman in her 30s, sits on a raised bed and looks intently through a digital video camera. She films Lou, a white woman in her 20s who sits in Kyla’s power chair for the first time. Lou is focused as she tries to reverse.