CSET FEST: Y PARENTS #2 workshop

**Before parents became parents, they were among us, the spectators. Where are they now? How can the world of young parents be better connected to the world of other adults in both our cultural spaces and in general, in society? The Y PARENTS #2 project offers simple starting points for integrating parents of young children into adult cultural activities.

**Where does the playground fence end and where does the inclusive cultural environment begin? **

How does the cultural environment relate to the audience - many of whom are parents who have nowhere to drop off their children? Are these adults welcome to participate with their children in performances, conferences or discussions, or are they referred to the children's programme? Where do the needs of the child end and the needs of the parent begin? Where is the line between care that fulfils and care that limits? Where does the playground fence end and where does the inclusive cultural environment begin?

Y: Parents, which took place within the framework of the Kutná Hora Theatre Festival in summer 2021, opened up themes related to parenthood. It articulated the need of parents to participate in cultural events and the necessity of cultural institutions to meet this need.

Y PARENTS #2 offers a two-day creative workshop during which participants explore the conditions and possibilities of dialogue between non-parents, parents and children. One of the most frequent topics of discussion will be the specifics of public and cultural spaces. We welcome people working in cultural institutions and the visitors of these institutions, architects, creative professionals, cultural managers, artists, curators and anyone without any previous training. Adults without and with children are equally welcome. Children can take part with their parent/s or adult companion/s. We provide in-room babysitting upon request.

The workshop consists of four 150-minute sessions. Sessions are connected, but one can register for just one or some of the sessions.

Workshop participants can describe their experiences with lack of dignity (with regard to parents), unreflected time specifics (parents have time for adult culture at different times than non-parents) or for example the absence of community care in circles of parents in a safe environment not separated from cultural events for the general public.

One of the goals of the workshop, following these dialogues, is to create a mobile intervention as a proposal for a parent-friendly zone.

"I was surprised at how quickly I became invisible. I was suddenly a mother, and I no longer felt part of the non-parent world. While other adults go to culture and cafés, sit at tables and chairs and have lively discussions about social or cultural issues, for us mothers (and fathers) in those same cafés, space is often reserved somewhere in a colourful corner or behind a wall, with no intellectual stimulation (other than our own child), or we spend our days in playgrounds, where the non-parent world is again absent. Yet parenting is not a separate "chapter" in a person's life. A parent is a human being too, with needs to learn and socialise, just like any child or non-parent." Marika Smreková

The Y PARENTS #2 zone can connect parents, non-parents and children during the CSET Festival and other cultural events. It can serve as a chill-out space, but also as a children's corner. In the evening it can turn into a lively social space for all groups. This approach integrates parents among other adults, offering the opportunity to see parenthood not as a career gap or temporary hiatus in social life, but as a full part of life, bringing important knowledge and experience.

The project has made requests to cultural institutions to consistently integrate parents - invisible audiences - into cultural activities and has offered a manual on how to achieve this integration. The extended manual will incorporate the learnings of the Budapest edition and later of the two-year-long European project On Mobilisation organised by wpZimmer- Workspace Performing Arts in cooperation with partners in Antwerp, Gottland, Torino and Prague.

As part of *Y PARENTS #2 *Marika Smreková, Lenka Jabůrková and their kids will visit cultural institutions in Budapest that are not specifically dedicated to children and document their experience. **An exhibition of videos, photos and works by workshop participants - drawings, texts and other contributions - will open on 7 May 2023 at 18:00 in the Gallery of Jurányi House. **At the opening, there will be an opportunity to talk to the artists and try out the parent-friendly zone in the courtyard.

The working language of the workshop is English. Participation is free of charge.