IN VIVO

"As a child I often wondered whether there truly is a
benevolent God who sees everything, and how he manages to do that, how does he
not forget anything: not the movement of a cloud in the sky, not all the
movements and steps of every one among us, not the dreams of the entire world …
I would say to myself: it is impossible to imagine that such a memory could
exist, that nothing is lost in oblivion. My childhood imagination still haunts
me: the history of occurences is infinitely great, and the history of surviving
images is infinitely small." (Wim Wenders)

The womb represents both safety and a limited space at the
same time. IN VIVO in the midst of this turbulence, a public park, bares
the memory of the birth. In the sterile whiteness and softness of materials
(gauze, cotton, diapers, hygienic pads), so characteristic of the period of
childbirth and the time after it, the communication among artists and
passers-by entangles and disentangles- playful or poetic, soul-stirring or
familiar.
We deal with pregnancy and birth based on the extremely present need to
de-medicalise such essential phenomena - to be two in one, to permit
separation, sensuality, crossing the boundaries of the body, pain, pleasure,
closeness, to open and close yourself, transgression. Screams and whispers
become visible, audible - with the help of emotional commitment, irony, humour
and play. Expectations, ideals, notions, images, prejudices concerning
motherhood, confrontation of female and male memory, confrontation with your
feelings, the unrecognised ones as well - fear, fatigue, boredom, incapability,
overload, anger, and distress.
Barbara Kapelj

Authors: Barbara Kapelj, Zalka Drglin, Irena Simnovec, Nada
Kirn Spolar, Diana Sercer,
Nataša Kordis
Invited artists: Valentina Cabro, Bostjan Kavcic, Tomaz Lunder, Jette Ostan
Vejrup,
Primoz Seliskar, Maja Subic

Production and organisation: Sezam and Juna's House
In co-operation with: City of Women