Limbo Studios Talk with Hettie Judah

We are so excited to host Hettie Judah at Limbo Studios, Margate.

Hettie will be talking about her new book ‘Acts of Creation: On Art and Motherhood’, sharing some of her thoughts, ideas and research, followed by a Q&A with the audience.

We’re delighted that Hettie will be signing and dedicating copies of the book, available to purchase during the event, supported by The Margate Bookshop.

The book examines how shifting ideals of motherhood have been constructed and promoted through visual culture. Moving into the 20th and 21st centuries, it also looks at how women artists – including Barbara Hepworth, Jenny Saville, Paula Modersohn-Becker, Betye Saar, Suzanne Valadon, Louise Bourgeois, have worked to subvert these ideals and reclaim the narrative. Women have long been told that they cannot be both an artist and a mother: here the artist mother is instead addressed as an important cultural paradigm. ‘Acts of Creation’ explores lived experience of motherhood – and of not becoming a mother – offering a complex account that engages with ongoing concerns around gender, caregiving and reproductive rights.

This is a book for everyone!

Hettie Judah is a writer and curator, contributing regularly to the Guardian, Apollo, Frieze and the Times Literary Supplement among many other publications. In 2022 Hettie co-founded the Art Working Parents Alliance which has been instrumental in paving the way for art institutions, galleries and programmes to rethink their models of operation.

Recent books include ‘Lapidarium: The Secret Lives of Stones’ (2022) and ‘How Not to Exclude Mothers (and other parents)’ (2022). Hettie is the curator of the Hayward Gallery touring exhibition ‘Acts of Creation: On Art and Motherhood’ which opened at the Arnolfini in Bristol, UK on 9 March 2024 and tours to MAC in Birmingham, UK; Millenium Gallery in Sheffield, UK; and DCA Dundee, UK in 2024 – 2025.

The book ‘Acts of Creation: On Art and Motherhood’ will be published in the UK and Europe by Thames and Hudson on 4 July 2024 and in the US and Canada on 3 September 2024.

Capacity is limited so please book early.

Please contact the organiser for any enquiries regarding access or for more information before you attend the event.

Host or Publisher Julia Ellen Lancaster