Take Care of Your Self: The Art and Cultures of Care and Liberation

Sundus Abdul Hadi

Paperback, 176 pages

9781942173182

Take care of yourself. How many times a week do we hear or say these words? If we all took the time to care for ourselves, how much stronger will we be? More importantly how much stronger will our communities be? In Take Care of Your Self, Iraqi artist and curator Sundus Abdul Hadi turns a critical and inventive eye on the notion of self-care, rejecting the idea that self-care means buying stuff and recasting it as a collective practice rooted in the liberation struggles of the oppressed. Throughout, Abdul Hadi explores the role of art in fostering healing for those affected by racism, war, and displacement, weaving in the artwork of twenty-seven artists of colour from diverse backgrounds to identify the points where these struggles intersect. In centering the voices of those often relegated to the margins of the art world and emphasising the imperative to create safe spaces for artists of colour to explore their complicated reactions to oppression, Abdul Hadi casts self-care as a political act rooted in the impulse toward self-determination, empowerment, and healing that animates the work of artists of colour across the world.