Duty of Care

'Care' is a murky notion, entangled with ugly feelings of obligation, burden, exhaustion and sacrifice.  

An international group show, Duty of Care explores institutional and professional care, care and gender, care and race, care and medicine, artists as healers and extreme care. 

In the art world, there’s a new emphasis on care, with a focus on gentle attentiveness and good works, and a fear of triggering hurt. In curatorial practice, and in culture more broadly, ‘care’ has become a buzzword, and is being used to reset policy and practice. However, too often, the complexity of the topic is lost despite good intentions. 

'Care’ is sometimes a mask for coercion and control. It is co-opted by commerce as a marketing tool, rebranded and repackaged as ‘wellness’ or ‘self care’. The ‘uncaring’ positions — libertarians and litterers, meat eaters and gas guzzlers — are regularly ignored too. How might these contingents inform our understanding of the practice of care? Can we separate the notion of care from our own feelings?  

Explore these two concurrent exhibitions presented in a partnership between Griffith University Art Museum and the Institute of Modern Art. 

29 June – 22 September, Institute of Modern Art

Getting Here

15 August – 9 November, University Art Museum

Getting Here