Take Care of Your Self: The Art and Cultures of Care and Liberation

The article discusses the importance of self-care as a political act and how it can be rooted in the liberation struggles of the oppressed. It highlights the role of art in fostering healing for those affected by racism, war, and displacement and emphasizes the need to create safe spaces for artists of color to explore their reactions to oppression.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 176 pages
Publication date: 17 December 2020
Publisher: Common Notions

Take care of yourself. How many times a week do we hear or say these words? If we all took the time to care for ourselves, how much stronger will we be? More importantly, how much stronger will our communities be? In Take Care of Your Self, Iraqi artist and curator Sundus Abdul Hadi turns a critical and inventive eye on the notion of self-care, rejecting the idea that self-care means buying stuff and recasting it as a collective practice rooted in the liberation struggles of the oppressed. Throughout, Abdul Hadi explores the role of art in fostering healing for those affected by racism, war, and displacement, weaving in the artwork of twenty-seven artists of color from diverse backgrounds to identify the points where these struggles intersect. In centering the voices of those often relegated to the margins of the art world and emphasizing the imperative to create safe spaces for artists of color to explore their complicated reactions to oppression, Abdul Hadi casts self-care as a political act rooted in the impulse toward self-determination, empowerment, and healing that animates the work of artists of color across the world.

Weight: 192g
Dimension: 128 x 202 x 12 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781942173182