Creative (m)otherhood event

Creative Motherhood — On Art, Practice, and Resisting System*

As part of Creative (m)otherhood, I organised Creative (m)otherhood — On Art, Practice, and Resisting System, together with Catchpenny Ensemble. The event grew out of a desire to move the research beyond my own experience of motherhood and composition and to create a space where other artist parents could share, question and reflect on their experiences.

Over the first year of the project, my research had focused largely on my own changing relationship with creativity: the disruptions, intensity and unpredictability of early motherhood, but also the new perspectives and possibilities it opened up. At the same time, it became increasingly clear that many of the difficulties experienced by artist mothers are not simply personal. They are connected to the structures and conditions in which artistic work takes place.

I therefore wanted to open the project outward. The event was conceived as a cosy, informal afternoon combining performance and conversation, creating a space to think collectively about the relationship between parenting and artistic practice, and about the systems that make creative work difficult to sustain alongside family life.

The performance featured Catchpenny Ensemble and guest musicians. The ensemble itself reflected the subject of the project: the pianist, violinist, guitarist, and percussionist participating in the performance were also mothers. This made the experience of combining artistic work and parenting present not only in the discussion, but also within the performance itself.

The afternoon began with a presentation of The room holds time, introducing the research and compositional process behind the piece. My daughter was present at the event, as were several other young children. Three or four toddlers listened to the eleven-minute performance with remarkable curiosity and attention, watching the video score and following the music. Their presence became an unexpected but meaningful part of the event: rather than children being a disruption to an artistic space, they were simply part of the space.

After the performance, we held an open conversation lasting approximately an hour and a half. I prepared several questions and prompts, but wanted the discussion to remain deliberately open, allowing participants to bring their own experiences and concerns into the conversation.

The group consisted mainly of artists and freelancers, including several parents and couples in which both partners were artists. Many of the participants were living in the Netherlands but had originally come from different countries. This international dimension became an important part of the discussion. Without extended family and established support networks nearby, combining parenting with freelance artistic work can become particularly complicated. The conversation repeatedly returned to the question of who supports artists when the traditional support structures of family and community are not available.

A recurring theme was the lack of structural support for freelancers and parents. Participants spoke about the difficulty of finding time and suitable spaces to work, particularly when children are young, and about the challenge of creating collectively when childcare and artistic schedules are constantly shifting.

We also discussed the lack of continuity in initiatives designed to support artist parents. There are often funding opportunities that make it possible to start a project, organise an event or create a temporary space for exchange, but much less support for maintaining these initiatives over time. Several participants recognised this pattern from their own experiences: valuable projects are created, communities begin to form, and then the funding ends.

This tension was particularly relevant to the event itself. The afternoon created a space that participants clearly valued, and there was a shared desire to continue conversations and initiatives of this kind. At the same time, it became apparent that enthusiasm and community alone are not enough to sustain them. Continuity requires time, financial resources and institutional commitment.

The event was ultimately a warm and generous encounter. It created a space to speak honestly about the less visible realities of creative parenthood while also recognising the pleasure, resilience and possibilities that come with making art alongside children.

For the research, this marked an important shift. Creative (m)otherhood began as a personal investigation into my own experience of becoming a mother and continuing to compose. Through this event, it became a collective inquiry into the conditions of creative life with children.

The conversations opened questions that I would like to continue exploring: How can artistic spaces accommodate children rather than exclude them? What forms of support do artist parents actually need? How can temporary initiatives develop into sustainable communities? And how might artistic institutions change their structures and expectations to recognise parenting as part of artists' lives rather than as something that exists outside their professional practice?

*The event was made possible with the support of Gemeente Den Haag.