CARE

The Care Pavilion at London Design Biennale will take place from June 1–25, 2023 at Somerset House. With its theme “CARE”, the pavilion will be directed by Song Tao and curated by Naiyi Wang.

Care is ubiquitous, yet it is in a state of extreme crisis. Since 2020, the word ‘CARE’ has taken on a very acute meaning in the global pandemic’s ‘state of exception’. We can see how questions of care, “caring for”, “caring about”, “caring with” come to register in many spheres. We have experienced ‘a discursive explosion of care’ but have barely put collective care into practice. It’s essential to respond to these ever present yet newly urgent matters of care: thinking through care in its many forms—of humans and nonhumans—while addressing its intricacies.

The Care Pavilion at London Design Biennale will invite interdisciplinary designers, activists, scholars, healers and cultural practitioners from around the globe to respond to “CARE”, using the Biennale as a testing ground to re-imagine the politics and ethics of care. Newly commissioned works will be displayed at the Biennale, while a publication, a documentary, and a series of gatherings will be held in conjunction with the exhibition. This includes more than 50 participants’ responses, reflecting on the entanglement of care with their creative practices, as well as how they care in uncertain and precarious times.

The Care Pavilion manifests through the Care manifesto, Care publication, Care documentary, Collective-care initiatives and Care-full practices, where care—in all its complexities—will be re-imagined and re-collectivised through an intersectional perspective. The Care Pavilion is organized by its Director Song Tao and Curator Naiyi Wang, with Siwei Li (Exhibition Manager), Zhou You—Founder of Updated Studio (Exhibition Design) and Ye Qian—Founder of openAstudio (Visual Design). Our team aims to emphasize the necessity of curatorial support (infrastructure) to ensure that caring (whether for, about, or with) can really flourish. We deploy “curating”—from the Latin word curare, meaning “to care” and “to cure”—as a tool to radically expand and collectively reflect on the notion of care. The Care Pavilion plays a special role by making many forms of care visible, serving as a practice of collective caring and curing that is accessible to everyone.

*The Care Pavilion is inspired by The Care Research Group at Royal College of Art (RCA) led by Prof. Gemma Blackshaw, as well as the work of scholars Maria Puig de la Bellacasa, Judith Butler, Donna J. Haraway, Paul B. Preciado, and The Care Collective.

Care Pavilion
London Design Biennale 2023

Director: Song Tao
Curator: Naiyi Wang
Exhibition Manager: Siwei Li

Ecological Collaborator: MOOVI
Special Support: Beying Tech Inc.

Exhibition Design: Zhou You, Founder of Updated Studio
Visual Design: Ye Qian, Founder of openAstudi

The list of the participants and the detailed programme of the Care Pavilion at London Design Biennale will be announced soon. For further information on curatorial themes and media inquiries, please contact Naiyi Wang at: mail [​at​] wangnaiyi.com.