Self-Care Then and now

Can nurturing collectivity actually be a part of self-care? Self-care has also been corrupted or taken over by other financial interests, by capital, the tourism industry and so on. How do we see through structures to avoid being deceived or falling in at the risk of abandoning ourselves again?

The aim of the residency is to explore self-care. How can we fill a concept that does not really exist in Swedish with content? The english term “self-care;” refers to an individual’s own handling of physical or mental loss of function or health problems. An expanded definition of self-care also includes an individual’s efforts to promote their own health and to prevent sickness. In this residency writers, thinkers and artists have been invited to put different facets of self-care into words, which can offer inspiration for its´ expanded meaning.

With Varberg as a starting point, the three international artists Crystal Z Campbell, Henna-Riikka Halonen and Eleni Kamma reflect on the evolution of the spa. During their residency they met people who have been active at the spa, people who have used it for self-care, and others who are active on site in archives and at museums. Based on their artistic practices, they reflected on historical writing and the development of the spa from its birth up to our era.