Not in the mood for care today
Badrieh is an artist, mother of two, and student. In her everyday life in Hamburg Altona, she fights for a new understanding of gender and more space for herself.
Hey Badrieh, who are you, what do you do?
I used to study acting, I’m a student and a mother – but I actually wanted to answer this question directly as an artist. I should start believing myself.
What’s stopping you?
The deal with my father was to do "something proper" after my acting training. I studied fine art at Bachelor’s level and teaching at Master’s level. During this time, I had my two children and I found it hard to bear relying solely on my art financially – capitalism, you know. That’s how I ended up studying to be a teacher. Art and German, I’m finishing that this year. Art still holds everything together today, it runs like a thread through my life.
How would you describe your art?
I make media art, documentary and essayistic short films in particular. The crazy thing: I sometimes try to make films about others, but in the end I realize that they are mainly films about myself. I talk about something from a very specific, personal position – and maybe others can connect to that. Or maybe not. Very autobiographical. Me as a woman, my body as material, that always plays a role.
During the pandemic, you made the podcast Muttivation 2.0 with a friend. Is that also part of your introspection?
Parents, and mothers in particular, have completely disappeared during corona. But the project was mainly about questioning gender roles, old patriarchal structures that automatically come back into our lives as soon as we become mothers. This naturalization of gender, the responsibility of the mother because she had the child in her body – that’s all too easy for me. I see it as my task to work against these stereotypes and rusted structures forever.
Has anything changed yet?
After my first child, I was very shocked by this "there’s hardly any room left for myself inside me". This faded into the background with my second child. Because my boyfriend was suddenly equally challenged to look after our first child. My boyfriend is a camera assistant and works spontaneously and rather flexibly according to bookings. When he’s not on the road, he has no work – it’s different for me, because there’s always something to do. But it’s better spread out now than it was a few years ago.
How do you organize your everyday life?
Hamburg Altona has been the center of our lives for several years now: the Schatztruhe daycare center, my studio in Schomburgstraße and our apartment in Harkortstraße, everything is close together. We don’t want to leave here anymore. Other parents have become our friends, my most important allies in the urban jungle. We organize our lives together, rarely just picking up our own children from nursery, going shopping and meeting up at playgrounds or on the Elbe beach. I just love driving into Ottensen and knowing that someone is always there for me. For me and the children.
Do you have a car?
Yes, but we only use it when we go to my parents’ house on the outskirts of Großhansdorf in Schleswig-Holstein, where I grew up. In our little universe, we make every trip with the muli motor. I’ve had a total of three mulis stolen. With each theft, I’ve traded up – now I wouldn’t want to be without the pedal assistance.
You’ve been a muli driver from the very beginning. What has changed?
I have changed. I had my own car in Großhansdorf. The distance to the outdoor pool in Großensee – I wanted to be cool and pick up my friends in the car. In Altona today, a car just means stress when looking for a parking space or costs for the garage and gas. These are all resources that we need for our family. There is now the first cycle route directly through Altona and some cycle paths have been improved. It’s not just the muli that is growing with us. The city is too.
What do you want for the next few years?
I want to be able to say more often when I’m not in the mood for care. I want care work to be seen as equal to paid work. I want more space for myself again – without sacrificing my role as a mother, without part-time work and poverty in old age. I might even want a third child one day. The most important thing is that we all continue to develop. That we don’t stand still.
Thank you for the interview!
More about Badrieh at: badriehwanli.com | instagram.com/badrieh
Muttivation2.0 Podcast on spotify.com
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