“The goal is to achieve 'democratic design',
products that will work in homes whether they are located in Beijing, Madrid or
Topeka….We have such a big influence."
-
Mikael Ydholm, Research Manager at Ikea, Wall Street Journal 13.10.2013
Gender equality has long been an ideal of the Swedish
Folkhem or ‘People’s Home’. However, conflicting political objectives
and the advance of capitalism have arguably limited the potential of real equity
between genders in Sweden. In
‘Women and Government; New Ways to Political Power’ (1994), Mim Kelber presents
Yvonne Hirdmam’s analysis of the welfare reforms as “gifts from the social
democratic state to the wives and mothers of Sweden that provided them with
better houses and easier lives.
But these reforms also had another purpose – they stimulated the economy
by creating consumers with homes and incomes.” Nowhere is this argument more evident than at Ikea, which
recently opened in Belfast (2007) and Dublin (2009). Now thousands of people across the island of Ireland
flock to the stores everyday to experience Swedish design for better homes, one of the legacies of the Folkhem.
A new dialogical work by Irish artist Siobhán Clancy called 'Flatpack Feminism' asks what if solutions for reproductive
healthcare could be shared and embraced as enthusiastically as good and
accessible furniture design? Across Ireland, abortion is
criminalised. In the south, the
provision of information on services is restricted as abortion remains
anti-constitutional due to a 1983 amendment. So what if we could
access information on ‘The Swedish Model’ for home abortions as easily as we
could read an instruction booklet for any DIY assembly? By appropriating familiar visuals from
consumer experience, Flatpack Feminism seeks to circumvent the restrictions on
audiences in Ireland and generate conversation with our Swedish counterparts
about ownership; how we maintain our bodily autonomy as we fend off
privatization of our selves and our resources? What is the legacy of socialist
democracy for gender politics in Sweden and its influence internationally in
both sex and reproductive work? How do we overcome problematic histories of
state-imposed control over the reproductive body, the results of which have
been enforced sterilization in Sweden and in Ireland enabled the barbaric
practice of symphysiotomy and the imprisonment in ‘Magdalene Laundries’ of
unmarried women for the crime of getting pregnant? How do we avoid the commodification of our values and our
people? What are useful strategies
to achieve reproductive justice?
How could a feminist ethic of care enhance our wellbeing as a society
and de-stigmatise abortion?
Launching on 4th December 2014, Flatpack Feminism
will be on display as part of the group show 'Pack Up Your Troubles' at
the Pannrummet Gallery, Skeppargatan 98, Stockholm as part of AbortRättsFestival hosted by RFSU. The exhibition also features work by Emma Campbell and Jamie Harper Mason from Northern Ireland. The public is invited join the artist in dialogue on the themes outline above and more on Saturday 6th December 2014
from 11am until 4pm at Pannrummet Collective Gallery, Stockholm. For
anyone who wants to get creative,
Siobhán will also facilitate the making of some DIY Patches as we talk –
a
traditional anti-capitalist intervention in fabric. On Sunday 6th
December, a short film on the making of Flatpack Feminism will be
screened as part of an all day screening event for AbortRättsFestival.
For
more details go to:
http://www.rfsu.se/sv/Om-RFSU/Press/Pressmeddelanden/2014/Valkomna-till-RFSUs-abortrattsfestival--releasemingel-for-OTTAR/.
Check out the Facebook event link at http://facebook.com/events/350697041769379
Acknowledgements:
Concept,
Design and Layout by Siobhán Clancy
Photography
by Cathie Doherty
Performed
by Siobhán Clancy & Madeleine Johansson
Supported
by RFSU and presented at AbortRättsFestival 2014 in Pannrummet Collective
Gallery, Stockholm in commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the legalisation
of abortion in Sweden
This project has been made
possible through a kind donation by Emma Hernborg
Special thanks to Emilie
Weiderud