Whats Going On? by Dina Jezdic @ms.interpretedd

a huge thank you to Ms. Interpreted for her essay on the project’s first year. coinciding with the launch of our archive this reflection captures the subtle structures the project aims to evolve by.

mothermother, the repetition of the dual syllabic incantation, a prophecy rolling off your lips, flipping upon your tongue and finally landing out of your open mouth like the start of the Marvin Gaye’s famous song What’s Going On (1). Present, seeking to dialogue, weaving both past and future together, mothermother is a challenge where art encourages us to view the world though collaboration and shared space. It inspires the empathetic outlook, inviting us to be vulnerable and partake in creativity that is constantly in flux of unfinished business. It’s an emotional plea for the environment, safety for our bodies, and like our mitochondrial DNA passed on by our maternal ancestors. 

The project is provocative and radically framed by curatorial activism. It is a platform highjacked by the artists themselves, away from curatorial matching and interpretations. It is curiously seeking alternative modes for art and artists to embrace each other in the impossible entanglements of female identity and the safety of the collective. As the careful workwomanship unfolds through the embroideries of these entanglements, so do the bloodlines of the next iteration of mothermother extend as if born out of Papatuanuku herself and the earth feminine of the unconscious world. 

The concept/conception of mothermother is with artists segueing from one iteration into the next and categorized as a cycle. There is no narrative per se but there is an established kaupapa that is rooted in the sisterhood of the familiar, a place where everyone is a mentor and a learner. A relationship framed by the tuakana/teina presence that permeates in the aesthetics by not privileging one over the other but allowing the work to softly whisper in the space. The shows are somewhat introspective, exploring the intimate elements of the artists’ journeying as well as promoting awareness of the gender inequalities when it comes to the art world. 

Born out of searching for a deeper context and stretching out of the limits of what came before, mothermother is a longform strategy towards showing art. Each chapter ends with a strategic reprise of the next iteration’s opening theme. It’s an archive bearing witness and capturing a large movement and a specific terrain. It questions the traditional art spaces; the importance of documentation and a way to witness the art and engage with artists after the iteration is no longer displayed in the physical space. With mothermother, the artists involved are breaking the common cycle which is a perpetuation of the male dominated art representation in public and dealer galleries. It exposes the limitations and vulnerability of women artists by acting as a catalyst for the next phase through standing-in as an influence and support for one another. If you think that mothermother is a just a protest to that misrepresentation, I urge you to reconsider. It is a space that is in constant consideration for what we are still dealing with. Sexism, racism, poverty, police violence, unemployment and ecological destruction, none of which are going away in a hurry. mothermother is a love story, framed by understanding of such politics, guiding towards art that has greater accessibility. 

The space of Lot23 is layered with voices and echoes and indeed polyrhythms of those that have come before and guiding those that are currently encapsulated. They are ground-breaking personal and collective statements sharing in the conversation, in commune with each other, percolating about what’s to come with the next cycle. It’s a project that lives in the future and its potential perpetuity operating on the intuitive tramline, from one mother to the next, flowing uninterruptedly.

This is no ordinary group art show. It’s more like a dynasty, made to last and endure like the relationships formed and situations that unfolded unpredictably over time. Perhaps being part of something that existed before you and that will carry on beyond you, the future unknown and unknowable but persistent, underscores the gravity by being enhanced through continuity and endurance. Another season, another revolution, an antidote to individualism and a shift to collective action. It’s the next cycle to the final countdown. It’s a space that reminds you that you are all that and to make sure you burn your best candles on ordinary days. 

This archive is an invitation privileging the artists activated by the spectators lucky enough to witness. Whatever comes next in the feminist politics with regards to race, ecology and nationhood should certainly be a shift to this already fully formed legacy. It is indeed timely to reassess and question all our expressions of feminisms that are not purposely in pursuit of further expansion of what we know as work that is truthfully collaborative. mothermother archive is a choice where the beauty is enveloped and inseparable from the social consciousness, launched in what have been known as ‘difficult’, ‘challenging’, ‘uncertain’ times. It’s the output of our cabin fever dreams. 

1.  "What's Going On" is a song by American recording artist Marvin Gaye, released in 1971 on the Motown subsidiary Tamla. Originally inspired by a police brutality incident witnessed by Renaldo “Obie” Benson.

“Mother, mother

There’s too many of you crying

Brother, brother, brother

There’s far too many of you dying”

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