It’s funny to be reviewing a book about artists and motherhood when you are homeschooling: kind of like seeing an Instagram post of a party you are already at. “Gosh, that looks like a fun place to be,” you think. “Better than this vortex.”
Why Call It Labor? On Motherhood and Art Work, published by the Arab funding organisation Mophradat and edited by its director, Mai Abu ElDahab, presents motherhood as vastly more complicated than a "fun place to be". Contributions by artists and curators such as Mary Jirmanus Saba, Basma Alsharif, Lara Khaldi, Nikki Columbus and Mirene Arsanios sketch out the structural problems facing mothers in the cultural arena. The "labour" in the book's title is a handy double entendre: the central problem is how working artists remain working even after they become mothers.
One consistent alarm bell is sounded throughout the book: of the pressure to keep up with the art world, socially and professionally, or risk being forgotten. Each mother recounts squeezing in the hours, in between naps and brief spells of downtime.
"If being a pregnant artist – and losing freelance work, funding and exposure opportunities as a result – has shown me anything," writes filmmaker Jirmanus Saba, "it's that the possibility of artistic success or even sustainability through hard work and perseverance is false. The art market is fickle, and its logic is based on sustaining its own growth."
What proportion of those are mothers is unclear, and this is what the article’s author, Hettie Judah, sought to uncover. Her research confirmed anecdotal suspicions: motherhood is frowned upon not only for the amount of time it leeches from one’s art practice, but also because it signals an uncoolness, a normativity, as one shifts from discovering new forms of radicality to scouring the school league tables and setting up piano lessons.
[Motherhood] signals an uncoolness, a normativity, as one shifts from discovering new forms of radicality to scouring the school league tables and setting up piano lessons
The book, published in both Arabic and English, makes it clear that the problem is systematic, relating to the general economic precarity of being a cultural worker and the art world’s incessant over-production. It’s a serious issue. In December, The Guardian published news of a recent report by the UK's Freelands Foundation on representation in the British art world. The article’s title itself is a spoiler: “Motherhood is taboo in the art world”. In the UK, the report states that 35 per cent of living artists represented by commercial galleries are women; the proportion of high-grossing sales at auction is smaller still at 3 per cent.
For cultural workers, motherhood is also a deterrent in jobs and opportunities, as small organisations often avoid women whom they suspect might imminently take maternity leave. Why Call It Labour? includes a conversation with one of the few cases in the art world where a mother successfully challenged an institution for discrimination. In 2017, Nikki Columbus entered into negotiations for a curatorial position at New York’s PS1 Contemporary Art Centre, part of The Museum of Modern Art. She was at that time pregnant, though the museum was not aware. By the time the start date and salary were finalised, she had given birth, and the museum withdrew its job offer. Columbus sued and received a settlement in 2019.
In the book, Columbus speaks to Lebanese writer Arsanios about the case, setting her experience against the broader landscape of legal rights and motherhood in New York. Both live in the city, and for Arsanios, the pressure to work is not only financial. She needs to maintain her income so she does not violate the terms of her 0-1 artist’s visa. In its orientation towards Arab mothers, Why Call It Labour? raises questions that are often excluded from white middle-class writings on motherhood, however well-intentioned they may be – such as the added wrinkle of visas and passports, and the work done to secure a child’s citizenship somewhere with better economic opportunities than one’s home country.
The perfect storm of professional and familial obligations – intense even before Covid-19 hit – is part of what makes Mophradat’s decision to devote a publication to motherhood important. It was relaunched under ElDahab’s leadership five years ago, and has shown itself astute in how it offers aid to artists and cultural workers, thinking around labyrinthine internal funding procedures at US museums, travel restrictions for Arab curators, and the kinds of grants that are useful.
Here, Mophradat wears its heart on its sleeve (Abu AlDahab, who has a young child, also contributes an essay) and recognises, from the ground up, the scale of the problem facing young artists who are also mothers.
Every mother needs a room in her house to be able to kick, scream, curse and write in, said French-Moroccan writer Leila Slimani at the Hay Festival a few years ago. That feels like a luxury momentarily scuppered by ongoing lockdowns, and I (selfishly) hope for more efforts to marry practicality and theory to succeed in confronting what we now call work-life balance.
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
Zayed Sustainability Prize
The bio
Favourite book: Peter Rabbit. I used to read it to my three children and still read it myself. If I am feeling down it brings back good memories.
Best thing about your job: Getting to help people. My mum always told me never to pass up an opportunity to do a good deed.
Best part of life in the UAE: The weather. The constant sunshine is amazing and there is always something to do, you have so many options when it comes to how to spend your day.
Favourite holiday destination: Malaysia. I went there for my honeymoon and ended up volunteering to teach local children for a few hours each day. It is such a special place and I plan to retire there one day.
TEAMS
EUROPE:
Justin Rose, Francesco Molinari, Tyrrell Hatton, Tommy Fleetwood, Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Alex Noren, Thorbjorn Olesen, Paul Casey, Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter, Henrik Stenson
USA:
Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed, Bubba Watson, Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler, Webb Simpson, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau ( 1 TBC)
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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Breast cancer in men: the facts
1) Breast cancer is men is rare but can develop rapidly. It usually occurs in those over the ages of 60, but can occasionally affect younger men.
2) Symptoms can include a lump, discharge, swollen glands or a rash.
3) People with a history of cancer in the family can be more susceptible.
4) Treatments include surgery and chemotherapy but early diagnosis is the key.
5) Anyone concerned is urged to contact their doctor
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
EPL's youngest
- Ethan Nwaneri (Arsenal)
15 years, 181 days old
- Max Dowman (Arsenal)
15 years, 235 days old
- Jeremy Monga (Leicester)
15 years, 271 days old
- Harvey Elliott (Fulham)
16 years, 30 days old
- Matthew Briggs (Fulham)
16 years, 68 days old
Expert advice
“Join in with a group like Cycle Safe Dubai or TrainYAS, where you’ll meet like-minded people and always have support on hand.”
Stewart Howison, co-founder of Cycle Safe Dubai and owner of Revolution Cycles
“When you sweat a lot, you lose a lot of salt and other electrolytes from your body. If your electrolytes drop enough, you will be at risk of cramping. To prevent salt deficiency, simply add an electrolyte mix to your water.”
Cornelia Gloor, head of RAK Hospital’s Rehabilitation and Physiotherapy Centre
“Don’t make the mistake of thinking you can ride as fast or as far during the summer as you do in cooler weather. The heat will make you expend more energy to maintain a speed that might normally be comfortable, so pace yourself when riding during the hotter parts of the day.”
Chandrashekar Nandi, physiotherapist at Burjeel Hospital in Dubai
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
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