Caregiving: Making Meaning: Art as acts of care
The University of Technology Sydney, 2020

Exhibiting works, Invisible Agent, Maintenance Performance, 2015. Existing Momentum, Video Work, 2012. Enacting Dreams/Always Knitting, Video Work, 2018.

This edition of the work was performed on an examination bed in a public foyer of the University of Technology Sydney in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. The performance work taps into the unspoken and deep interpersonal connections embedded in care.

I invite the participant to sit on the examination bed. I remove their shoes and help them lay on the table. I walk to the other side of the bed and hold their hand while raising the bed to a suitable height. Once the table is raised, I hold the participants in ways that they agree. Sometimes, I have their hand or place it on their heart or hold them for as long as they want. Sometimes, it is meditation, a conversation, or a mutual energy exchange. This isn’t silent work; I ask questions to understand the participant's needs. Care involves communicating to reach a mutual goal. It is a mutual exchange.

The live artwork is part of a larger UTS digital art project, a collaboration between the UTS Centre for Carers Research, the UTS Faculty of Transdisciplinary Innovation & funding support from a Social Impact Grant from the UTS Centre for Social Justice and Inclusion.

For more information: https://www.uts.edu.au/research-and-teaching/our-research/institute-public-policy-and-governance/about-institute/centre-for-carers-research/about-us/our-work/making-meaning-performance-art-social-impact/making-meaning-art-acts-care

Video of Performance and Event by Kuba Dorabialski.