Sundown Schoolhouse of QUEER HOME ECONOMICS
Part of Wide Open School at the Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre, London / June 11 - July 11, 2012 / open 10:00 - 20:30 daily (except Mondays Jun 18 & 25, Jul 2 & 9)
Sessions are lead by range of queers from various disciplines and backgrounds. Schedule and session information will be announced late Spring.
The Sundown Schoolhouse of Queer Home Economics presents activities, classes, demonstrations, discussions, seminars, talks, and workshops related to LGBT home-making (inspired by the program of ‘home economics’ developed in the 19th century to educate young women in domestic duties). This temporary school / laboratory / lounge / headquarters is housed in a 20’ diameter all-weather geodesic dome tent installed over a platform and conversation pit on the rooftop terrace of the Hayward Gallery for their pre-Olympics Wide Open School program. Activities might include skill-building workshops (cleaning, cooking, decorating, knitting, gardening, sewing, flower-arranging, baking, cooking, canning...); relationship seminars (counseling, community, family, children, couples, sex...), activities related to the creative, financial, legal, logistical, political, and social aspects of queer home-making; plus movement exercises, work-out sessions, and potluck meals. In between the space will serve as a drop-in center for general conversations and ruminations about today's domesticating queer.
Open Call
Contact studio(at)fritzhaeg(dot)com if you are a queer Londoner (or summer visitor) interested in participating (attending sessions or leading programs), contributing (materials, furnishings, decorations), or interning (assisting with day-to-day operations).
Schedule
(more info coming in late Spring)
WEEK 1
~ MON, JUN 11 ~
...10:00 - 11:30 ~ movement ~ 10:00 - 11:30
...11:30 - 13:00 ~ Domestic Integrity Fields with Fritz Haeg
...13:00 - 14:00 ~ potluck lunch
...14:00 - 17:00 ~ Domesticating, Queering, and Hooshing the Schoolhouse with Fritz Haeg (collective activity to set up the space - bring your queer domestic materials, objects, crafts, and furnishings to lend to the project)
...19:00 - 20:30 ~ OPENING GATHERING (overview and introductions)
~ WED, JUN 13 ~
...10:00 - 11:30 ~ movement
...11:30 - 13:00 ~ Domestic Integrity Fields with Fritz Haeg
...13:00 - 14:00 ~ potluck lunch
...14:00 - 17:00 ~ Domesticating, Queering, and Hooshing the Schoolhouse with Fritz Haeg (collective activity to set up the space - bring your queer domestic materials, objects, crafts, and furnishings to lend to the project)
...17:00 - 19:00 ~ open
...19:00 - 20:30 ~ guest TBA and potluck dinner
~ THU, JUN 14 ~
...10:00 - 11:30 ~ movement
...11:30 - 13:00 ~ Domestic Integrity Fields with Fritz Haeg
...13:00 - 14:00 ~ potluck lunch
...14:00 - 17:00 ~ session TBA
...17:00 - 19:00 ~ open
...19:00 - 20:30 ~ guest TBA and potluck dinner
~ FRI, JUN 15 ~
...10:00 - 11:30 ~ movement
...11:30 - 13:00 ~ Domestic Integrity Fields with Fritz Haeg
...13:00 - 14:00 ~ potluck lunch
...14:00 - 17:00 ~ session TBA
...17:00 - 19:00 ~ open
...19:00 - 20:30 ~ guest TBA and potluck dinner
~ SAT, JUN 16 ~
...10:00 - 11:30 ~ movement
...11:30 - 13:00 ~ Domestic Integrity Fields with Fritz Haeg
...13:00 - 14:00 ~ potluck lunch
...14:00 - 17:00 ~ session TBA
...17:00 - 19:00 ~ open
...19:00 - 20:30 ~ guest TBA and potluck dinner
~ SUN, JUN 17 ~
...10:00 - 11:30 ~ movement
...11:30 - 13:00 ~ Domestic Integrity Fields with Fritz Haeg
...13:00 - 14:00 ~ potluck lunch
...14:00 - 17:00 ~ session TBA
...17:00 - 19:00 ~ open
...19:00 - 20:30 ~ guest TBA and potluck dinner
WEEK 2
~ MON, JUN 18 ~ CLOSED
~ TUE, JUN 19 ~
~ WED, JUN 20 ~
~ THU, JUN 21 ~
~ FRI, JUN 22 ~
~ SAT, JUN 23 ~
~ SUN, JUN 24 ~
__________________WEEK 3__________________
~ MON, JUN 25 ~ CLOSED
~ TUE, JUN 26 ~
~ WED, JUN 27 ~
~ THU, JUN 28 ~
~ FRI, JUN 29 ~
~ SAT, JUN 30 ~
~ SUN, JUL 1 ~
__________________WEEK 4__________________
~ MON, JUL 2 ~ CLOSED
~ TUE, JUL 3 ~
~ WED, JUL 4 ~
~ THU, JUL 5 ~
~ FRI, JUL 6 ~
~ SAT, JUL 7 ~
~ SUN, JUL 8 ~
__________________WEEK 5__________________
~ MON, JUL 9 ~ CLOSED
~ TUE, JUL 10 ~
~ WED, JUL 11 ~ Closing events
Coming soon...
exerpts from Wikipedia:
Home economics (also known as family and consumer sciences or Home Ec.) is the profession and field of study that deals with the economics and management of the home and community. Home economics is a field of formal study including such topics as consumer education, institutional management, interior design, home furnishing, cleaning, handicrafts, sewing, clothing and textiles, commercial cooking, cooking, nutrition, food preservation, hygiene, child development, managing money, and family relationships. This teaches students how to properly run a family environment and make the world a better place for generations to come.
Sexual education and drug awareness might be also covered, along with topics such as fire prevention and safety procedures. It prepares students for homemaking or professional careers, or to assist in preparing to fulfill real-life responsibilities at home. It is taught in secondary schools, colleges and universities, vocational schools, and in adult education centers; students include women and men.
In the 19th century, home economics classes were intended to ready young women for their duties in the home. Classes were first offered in the United States, Canada and Great Britain, followed by Latin America, Asia, and Africa. International organizations such as those associated with the United Nations have been involved in starting home economics programs around the world.
Etymology: The preferred name of the field of study and profession is Home Economics. Internationally, the field of study has consistently retained the name Home Economics and is recognized both within and beyond the boundaries of the profession.
Content: Situated in the human sciences, home economics draws from a range of disciplines to achieve optimal and sustainable living for individuals, families, and communities. Historically, home economics has been in the context of the home and household, but this has extended in the 21st century to include the wider living environments as we better understand that the capacities, choices, and priorities of individuals and families impact at all levels, ranging from the household to the local and the global community. Home economists are concerned with promoting and protecting the well-being of individuals, families, and communities; they facilitate the development of attributes for lifelong learning for paid, unpaid, and voluntary work. Home economics professionals are advocates for individuals, families, and communities.
The content of home economics comes from the synthesis of multiple disciplines. This interdisciplinary knowledge is essential because the phenomena and challenges of everyday life are not typically one-dimensional. The content of home economics courses varies, but might include: food, nutrition, and health; personal finance; family resource management; textiles and clothing; shelter and housing; consumerism and consumer science; household management; design and technology; food science and hospitality; human development and family studies; education and community services, among others. The capacity to draw from such disciplinary diversity is a strength of the profession, allowing for the development of specific interpretations of the field, as relevant to the context.
Areas of practice: It is also called Human sciences based on everyday work where the setting is our house. Home economics can be clarified by four dimensions or areas of practice:- as an academic discipline to educate new scholars, to conduct research and to create new knowledge and ways of thinking for professionals and for society
- as an arena for everyday living in households, families and communities for developing human growth potential and human necessities or basic needs to be met
- as a curriculum area that facilitates students to discover and further develop their own resources and capabilities to be used in their personal life, by directing their professional decisions and actions or preparing them for life
- as a societal arena to influence and develop policy to advocate for individuals, families and communities to achieve empowerment and wellbeing, to utilize transformative practices, and to facilitate sustainable futures.
To be successful in these four dimensions of practice means that the profession is constantly evolving, and there will always be new ways of performing the profession. This is an important characteristic of the profession, linking with the 21st century requirement for all people to be "expert novices", that is, good at learning new things, given that society is constantly and rapidly changing with new and emergent issues and challenges. Human science is Human science.
Historical skills: In the past, household skills included: herbal medicine, converting hide into leather, soap making, spinning yarn and thread, weaving cloth and rugs, and patchwork quilting. More skills were cooking on a wood burning stove, churning butter, baking bread, and preserving food by drying and by glass-jar canning.
Cleaning: Home cleaning can be analyzed into four parts: litter removal, storage of belongings, dusting, and washing of surfaces. Laundry is a separate subject. Washing of surfaces is the most dangerous and complicated part because of the cleaning solutions. For example, hard water deposits are cleaned with acid solutions and dirt is cleaned with alkaline solutions; they both harm the skin and both weaken each other. Mixing chlorine bleach and ammonia together forms toxic gas. Solvents including paint thinner and rubbing alcohol are toxic and flammable. Disinfectants are poisonous. Even dish water requires rubber gloves.