beuys on/off
The artistic and social agenda of Joseph Beuys, according to his concept of social sculpture, which aims at a transformation of society through art, melts elements of art, activism and realpolitik.
For the
Free International University 2.0, which is part of the Goethe-Institut Tokyo’s project “
beuys on/off”, artistic director
Mizuki Takahashi, invited artists and curators, to re-interpret four core themes of Beuys’s agenda from a current perspective – Eurasia, Education, Economy and Ecology. The section “
Economy” is designed by the
Center for Reproductive Labor, an international collective of activists, who deal with current connotations of reproductive labor and seek new expressions forms in order to initiate a broad public discussion on this theme.
Joseph Beuys in his lectures and discussions regularly raised the question of sustainable economy. In the realm of reproductive labor, mainly his claim for a housewife salary is well known, which raises the question of the value of (so far) non-remunerated work for our societies and addresses discriminating structures, which form the basis of the traditional concept of family.
In this online talk-event,
Sakiko Sugawa, a member of the
Center for Reproductive Labor gives an insight into the activities of the center, which intends to offer feminist political education with a specific focus on reproductive labor. Sugawa also introduces the visual language, the Center developed for their Instagram account, which is the forefront of its communication strategy. Sugawa presents various aspects of reproductive labor, whose complexity in the course of advancing globalization and the current corona-crisis has even increased. The postings of the Center for Reproductive Labor within the scope of beuys on/off can be viewed on the project website
www.beuysonoff.com.
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