Why Call It Labor?

What does it mean to become a mother if you work in the arts sector? Why Call It Labor? On Motherhood and Art Work is a publication by Mophradat that strives to be a conversation starter. For this conversation in Kaaitheater, historian and writer Alia Mossallam talks with some of the book contributors: Mophradat director Mai Abu ElDahab, filmmaker Mary Jirmanus Saba, and writer Mirene Arsanios. The conversation will be accompanied by a performed reading by Rosaline Elbay of curator Lara Khaldi’s post-partum diary commissioned for the book.

• Alia Mossallam is a cultural historian, writer and pedagogue interested in intimate and lyrical expressions of the lesser known struggles behind pivotal moments in world history.
• Mai Abu ElDahab is a contemporary art curator from Cairo, living in Brussels since 2007, and the director of Mophradat since 2014. She has edited and co-edited many publications including Why Call It Labor? On Motherhood and Art Work.
• Mary Jirmanus Saba is a filmmaker and geographer. From 2006-2008, she produced the weekly community broadcast television program, Via Comunidad with collective Vientos del Sur in Ibarra, Ecuador.
• Mirene Arsanios is the author of the short story collection, The City Outside the Sentence (Ashkal Alwan, 2015). She has contributed to many other essays and short story collections.