panel 2Caring and the Art of Perceiving
lecture and workshop
chair: Andries Baart
Caring and the Art of Perceiving
Andries Baart
All caring is rooted in the perception of the other: who is this, what does he or she require of me, and from what situation or context am I being addressed? Caregiving relies on the interpretation of these perceptions, and my willingness to take on the care of another – as a professional or as an informal or family carer – depends on those interpretations. Yet the caregiver often lacks the freedom to bring this triad (perception – interpretation – willingness to care) to a satisfactory conclusion. (a) In our healthcare system, the caregiver is hardly free to determine the “what” of the perception, specifically: the object and breadth of the focus, the visibility of the context, the intensity of the perception, and the inclusiveness or nature of the cut-out that is made. (b) Such freedom is also lacking when it comes to interpretation: hegemonic discourses of an institutional and political nature, for example, dominate strongly and tacitly. (c) And finally, the means are limited: seeing and language dominate at the expense of other senses and media. This constraint is as normal as it is problematic: it too often produces distorted images, dubious conceptualisations and questionable care intentions. This panel consists of a lecture followed by a practical workshop. In my lecture, I examine to what extent art can be helpful in correcting our perception here. Referring to caring, four possibilities are explored: looking at art, looking with art, looking through art, and looking as art. Visual art, graphic novels, ballet, music, photography, and film will be relied upon during the lecture, and I will thematize suffering, parting, mourning, longing, connection, but also political-ethical aspects of care. The perceiving is predominantly phenomenological, the emic perspective from a variety of care recipients. The argument substantiates the thesis that relying on art can significantly improve our perceptions, interpretations, and sensitivity to what needs care.
Andries Baart studied andragology (social pedagogics) and specialised as a practical theologian (both 1978); he obtained his PhD as a philosopher (1986). He has been (an extraordinary) professor from 1991 to the present, from 1991-2006 at the Catholic Theological University in Utrecht. Since 2007, he held the chair of Presence and Care, initially at Tilburg University and later at the University of Humanistic Studies in Utrecht. Since 2015, he has been an Associate Professor at North-West University in South Africa. From 2018-2023, he was a Visiting Professor at the UMC Utrecht, Department of Psychiatry. From 2004-2023, he worked with and from the Presence Foundation. He is the founder of presence theory. http://www.presentie.nl and http://www.andriesbaart.nl.
Location
23-25 January 2025
Kontakt der Kontinenten, Amersfoortsestraat 20
3769 AS Soesterberg
Online
23-25 January 2025
Kontakt der Kontinenten, Amersfoortsestraat 20
3769 AS Soesterberg
Online
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