CareCureCards is a polyvalent instrument used as a discussion activator that re-appropriates visual productions of feminist activists of the past and present from different parts of the globe as a tool to impact the artistic/educative/political processes. CareCureCards is comprised of three parts: a deck of cards with pictures, a notebook, and a lexicon.

 

The deck of cards transmits the concepts of “care” and “cure.” We wanted to elicit multiple definitions of care—nurturing, growth, burden, anguish, love, responsibility—through our images. The “Cure” in our name suggests that the conversations we enable through the gatherings would have the function of both self-care and group cure.

 

These cards have two sides: on one side there is a botanical illustration of plants; on the other, collages. The images of plants that have rhizomatic structures carry the metaphor of care, cure, connection, continual growth, and strength. Different plants need different environments to thrive. Such environmental factors include sunlight, shadow, moisture, differing air pressure, ground composition, and surrounding species that enter into relationships with the plant. We used this metaphor to define how we understand care concept. On the flip side, collages that we created are from political feminist posters or illustrations that are and were speaking about different forms of care work in different geographical locations and times.

 

The original sources that we used for collage are collected in the notebook that people can consult to find out more about the work of the artists and activists and the political movements related to care around the globe.

 

 

Another set of cards is a lexicon that can be used during the discussion. The current lexicon contains keywords summarizing our researches on care, and in the future, it could be re-composed to accommodate the context where the cards would be activated.