Care on Display

Care on Display brings together documentary and artistic films by anthropologists interested in the subject of care for the elderly and for people suffering from dementia. The screenings, which will be followed by a discussion, aim to investigate how films explore notions of access and visibility of ‘care’ as ethical concerns and the intersection between care in the context of material and visual culture and care for the elderly as a subject to be put on display.  How to make visible something which is so private and very often perceived as immaterial?
This film series is conceived to continue a seminar series that Dr Gabriela Nicolescu organised in Goldsmiths, Economies of Care and Social Reproduction, in the autumn of 2015, with support from both Goldsmiths and the Wellcome Trust. If that series focused on the creation of a network of social anthropologists and artists working on migration and care work, more generally, the film series proposes a step further in bringing together people interested in putting care work on display, and analysing the effects of visibility, understood in relation to ethics.
Moderated by Dr Gabiela Nicolescu
Programme
A Labour of Care: Migrants’ experiences (Dir. Nina Sahraoui,  France / 2015 /17min)
The Washer (Dir. Kati Marika Kelola, Finland / 2005 / 19min)
An observational portrait of a washer in a Finnish sauna. Pirkko has been washing people for living in Finnish saunas for twenty years. During the years she has learned to love people as they are. “In a wash you can feel like a kid again”, she explains. Young, old, men, women – they all come to Pirkko.
Today is Monday (Dir. Owen Davies. UK / 2014 / 23min)
Today is Monday is a short documentary that reflects the lives of patients, carers and staff on a specialist Medical and Mental health unit at a UK general hospital. The film was made to support research carried out on the MMHU and to raise awareness and debate on how we can best care for older people suffering with dementia and delirium.
Plus extracts from Mid-August Lunch (Dir. Gianni Di Gregorio, Italy / 2008)
Gianni, a broken man with mounting condo debts, is forced to entertain his 93-year-old mother and three other feisty women during Italy’s biggest summer holiday, Ferragosto. The other women include the mothers of his landlord and doctor, who will forgive his debts in exchange for his service.
This event is free, but tickets must be booked. To book tickets please go to http://careondisplay.eventbrite.co.uk
For information, contact Gabriela Nicolescu g.nicolescu@gold.ac.uk or Caterina Sartori film@therai.org.uk