Photo by Esel.at
links to the exhibition “Productive Work – What is it supposed to be? at frei_raum, MQ Curated by Anamarija Batista.
https://www.e-flux.com/announcements/169543/productive-work-what-is-it-supposed-to-be/
https://www.mqw.at/en/press/2018/mq-exhibition-productive-work-in-frei-raum-q21-exhibition-space/
Manual for house repairs for women
I have been working as a handywoman for years to round up my artistic budget. Most of the repair work I do is for my female friends or my family members who asked me a lot of times to teach them to do the small repairs by themselves, so this is a project for them.
I’m making a manual on house repairs for women where I will explain some of the most common problems and reapers that you can find in your home. The ‘book’ addresses women not because a man can’t use it but because of all the “pink tools” (tools made in “girly” shapes with weird forms, furs and glitter) that are produced specially for women and that in most cases are useless. The book is for them to fight this distorted picture of capitalistic empowerment of women that in a way is saying “you are equal you can do it all but the tools we are gonna give you are worthless”.
A woman can do the same things as man and most of the time the only problem they encounter with regular tools is that they are too big and too heavy, in the book I explain how to use some tricks and apply your whole body weight to do the job. Anyone can learn it, if not to do the job by themselves, simply to know how to talk to the worker that does the job for you. I hope that someday somebody will find it opportune to produce at least affordable working pants for women so I don’t have to work in oversize pants anymore.
NIKA RUKAVINA 