Symposium: Care, Who Cares?

Duty of Care Symposium
Care is a murky notion. It is entangled with ugly feelings of obligation and burden, exhaustion and sacrifice. It is sometimes a mask for coercion and control. It is co-opted by commerce as a marketing tool, rebranded and repackaged as wellness and self care. The ‘uncaring’ positions—libertarians and litterers, meat eaters and gas guzzlers—are regularly overlooked too. How might these contingents inform the practice of care?
Artists, students, researchers and academics are invited to attend and contribute to a dynamic dialogue in response to the international group exhibition Duty of Care, which explores institutional and professional care, care and gender, care and race, care and medicine, artists as healers and extreme care.

Keynote Speaker: Catherine Liu

Trauma Culture: Public Spheres and Aesthetic Production in an Age of Managed Care
In this keynote, Liu will explore the rise of public caring and self-presentation in the age of austerity and social media, examining how the aestheticisation of private life has shaped the role of artists and public culture. The discussion will also address trauma, a central theme in Liu's forthcoming book Traumatized, and the role of art in forging social bonds through mediated forms of confession.

When: Saturday 17 August, 9.30am - 3.30pm
Where: QCAD Lecture Theatre, Griffith University Art Museum
Cost: $30 (Full) $25 (Student) Lunch and refreshments provided
For complimentary First Nations community tickets email artmuseum@griffith.edu.au

About Duty of Care:
In the art world and in wider culture, there’s a new emphasis on care, focusing on gentle attentiveness and good works, and a fear of triggering hurt. Care has become an overworked buzzword and is being used to reset policy and practice. However, too often, the complexity and troublesomeness of care are smoothed over by liberal good intentions.
Co-curated by Angela Goddard, Robert Leonard, and Stephanie Berlangieri, Duty of Care is an international group show with over 30 artists across the Institute of Modern Art and Griffith University Art Museum.

GUAM offers a range of supports to assist with individual accessibility needs. There’s information available on our website under Visit Us (https://www.griffith.edu.au/art-museum/visit-us#map) as well as on the University’s main website, or attendees can let us know of their requirements when booking their tickets and we will liaise directly with you regarding your needs.

Please email artmuseum@griffith.edu.au if you have purchased ticket but are unable to attend.