Interview with Marika Smreková and Petr Dlouhý by Marta Martinová, published on 27th March 2024.

The challenge of reconciling parenthood with work has been discussed more and more in recent years. Marta Martinová spoke to theatre director Marika Smreková and curator Petr Dlouhý, both of whom focus on the presence of parents in cultural institutions, to explore why the topic of care remains so controversial and how they are working to make theatre more accessible to parents of young children.

What inspired you to make culture more accessible to people with young children?

Marika Smreková: When I was studying theatre directing at JAMU, I couldn’t imagine balancing motherhood with my career. I looked at it primarily from a professional perspective: a mother with a one-and-a-half-year-old child is automatically less appealing to the labour market, even in non-profit organisations. This made me hesitant to start a family. But once I became a mother, I realised that the problem extended beyond my career—it was also present in the cultural world. The culture available to me didn’t consider my child. Institutions do offer programmes for parents with young children, but these are often scheduled at times that completely differ from the main programme, which isn’t child-friendly. There’s a huge difference between simply labelling something as “inclusive” and actually being inclusive. Institutions often claim they want to be inclusive, but when you look at the schedule, on Tuesday there’s a workshop for refugees, Wednesday for the elderly, and Thursday for mothers with children. So, refugees don’t meet locals, mothers don’t meet the elderly, and what’s marketed as inclusion often feels more like segregation.

How does Studio Alta approach the idea of “parent-friendly” culture—culture that’s accessible to parents?

Petr Dlouhý: At Studio Alta, we’re part of the European project On Mobilisation, which brings together four residential centres focused on facilitating artistic research. We invited Marika Smreková to work on the inclusion of parents with young children in cultural activities, and we’ve expanded the conversation to include other topics, such as the blending of different social groups within cultural spaces. We’re interested in how to improve the cultural environment, promote inclusivity, and engage audiences. Many of us on the team are parents, and we’ve personally felt the lack of opportunities that we’re now trying to address.

So, what’s preventing inclusion?

Marika Smreková: Art itself can be inclusive, but art is also free, and it’s perfectly acceptable if it’s only aimed at a particular audience. What we’re focused on are the cases where institutions or artists want to present work to a mixed audience. In those cases, you need to think about things like timing—so people who are putting their children to bed in the evening, caring for elderly parents, or who live far away can still attend. For example, artist Eva Kot’átková explicitly says that her works are meant for an audience of all ages. Even the label matters—if something is labelled as suitable for “0+”, many adults might be put off. But then there are works that are explicitly not for children, perhaps because they tackle complex intellectual topics that wouldn’t entertain a child. In those cases, something like childcare can be a useful tool, organised in parallel with the performance. In our research, we’re focusing on both of these forms of inclusivity. We’re looking at which institutions present work for all age groups and which offer childcare or at least have “family-friendly” timings. We’re comparing how different organisations approach this. Even something as simple as babysitting has its challenges. Should the institution be responsible for the children? Where should the babysitting take place, and how safe should the space be? Should there be a parallel programme? It’s also about ensuring the artists feel comfortable—that they won’t be disturbed by children, and likewise, that the children won’t be distracted by the performance. This all involves communication between the institution, the parents, and the artists.

What did you find when uncovering barriers to inclusion?

Petr Dlouhý: We realised that many female audiences have been lost simply because they became parents. We’re now looking to win them back. It’s teaching us to adapt to the needs of our audience. And the project also provides us with valuable feedback. Who are we really doing our activities for, and who do we want to do them for? What do we say we do, and what do we really do? It encourages us to reflect on what we subconsciously prioritise or how we imagine our focus. All of this erodes our assumption that we’re doing things in the best possible way. It forces us to keep evolving. We’re all learning not only how to be more approachable but also how to do our work really well—how to be responsible to the resources we have and to the people we work with and for whom we do the work.

Why have these measures been ignored for so long?

Petr Dlouhý: It might be partly due to reluctance to change, or maybe it just didn’t occur to anyone that something like this could be done easily without jeopardising sales. In fact, it could make the programme more accessible to a group of people who wouldn’t otherwise attend.

Marika Smreková: We’ve gotten used to the idea that there’s an adult world and a child’s world. But when it comes to accessibility for wheelchair users, we don’t create a special show just for them. We make sure they have access to the regular programme. Similarly, a parent with a child should be able to attend a conference, for example, and have the necessary support in place. But it’s also about integrating children into the adult world.

So, how is it possible that we haven’t needed anything like this until now? Didn’t people manage to arrange these things themselves before? If half the potential audience is dealing with this problem, it’s probably not just their fault…

Petr Dlouhý: This is where the friction points arise, because to address it, we have to talk about capitalism and patriarchy, and those topics are difficult for many people. There’s often this “We did it ourselves” mentality…

Marika Smreková: An older artist from the West once asked why women are always expected to play the role of mother. It’s great for a mother to leave her child at home for a while and come to an event on her own. It’s as if you should only have one identity—you’re either a mother, or an intellectual, or an actress. We still see children as a private matter. We’re supposed to isolate them in special spaces just for them and not bring them into the public sphere. On the other hand, the responses from people who are new parents, whether they’re audience members, artists, or workers in institutions, are positive because they understand the problem from their own experience. For instance, I received a call from a Slovak journalist who used to work at Radio Devín. She confided that after becoming a mother, she felt replaced and unimportant in the cultural world, and now she wants to help other women who’ve been pushed out of their careers because of motherhood.

Petr Dlouhý: But we don’t want to present a “one-size-fits-all” solution. Rather, we want to offer possibilities that some people can use while others may not. There are many artists—both male and female—who have support networks, like grandparents. Some people don’t even want to bring their children with them all the time or simply need time for themselves.

Marika Smreková: I feel there are already plenty of clubs, activities, and studios for parents with children in cities. But what’s missing is the opportunity for parents to do something for themselves, where the adult comes first.

We’re talking about organising a programme in a cultural institution, but you mentioned that the artwork itself can be inclusive. How?

Marika Smreková: I myself have moved from directing drama to participatory forms of theatre. For me, participatory means that the artists and the audience are on stage together. Suddenly, the stage becomes a shared space, where, if you set rules—for example, no talking, but you can touch objects or make sounds with them—everyone in that space experiences time together, which we rarely get in public spaces. People without children don’t go to playgrounds, and parents don’t typically go to bars where people without children gather. Participatory theatre allows us to think about how society works in a different way.

There’s no denying that a fundamental change in cultural attitudes towards parenting is happening. But who is primarily responsible for inclusivity in the arts? Should it be the artists, or should parents be more proactive in demanding a programme for themselves? Or should we focus on cultural institutions?

Petr Dlouhý: Every social change requires the interaction of various actors. But personally, I think institutions, which have access to resources, bear the most responsibility. Despite the precarious state of culture, institutions create the programmes, choose the content, and carry the biggest share of responsibility. We need to show what is possible so that changes can happen.

Marika Smreková: Theatre can either reflect society’s state or act as an agent of social transformation. And I feel we’re at a point where we should be fostering imagination while also setting an example. An institution doesn’t have to be a mere factory for cultural events. It can also be a space for social contact. We’ve been taught to categorise people by age or by type of cultural programme. But an institution can bring people together, spark critical dialogues, and allow different generations to connect, converse, and feel heard and seen.

So, what can be done to improve cultural institutions?

Petr Dlouhý: On a practical level, we’re aiming to hold regular monthly performances at ALTA that start earlier and offer free childcare.

Marika Smreková: We’ve also started a WhatsApp and Facebook group called “Parent-Friendly Culture,” where we share cultural events that are mainly designed for parents. But there aren’t many of these events yet. There’s a children’s club at the National Theatre in Prague, which offers interactive workshops for children aged six to twelve alongside the evening performance. I’ve seen parents who attended the performance together, then went to pick up their children after the show. And in doing so, the cultural institution also educates the younger audience! They don’t hide the children away out of sight— for example, they organised a ticket scavenger hunt across the entire theatre, including the bar. But to sum up, in the six years since my daughter was born, I’ve only attended three events where childcare was provided. One was the Pontis Foundation’s Innovators Awards, another was at the For a Sustainable and Neighbourly Prague festival, and the third was at the Heinrich Böll Foundation conference on ecofeminism. It was wonderful to realise that someone was allowing me to remain active, to continue learning, and to have opportunities for public expression and discussion, without being silenced simply because I was looking after a child.

What are your plans going forward?

Petr Dlouhý: By the summer, we’ll be offering at least four theatre or dance performances at ALTA, starting earlier and with free childcare for children aged one and a half to eight. We’ve had a positive response from Alfred in the Yard, whose team has been involved in our activities. They’ve helped us realise how much this is needed. Together, we’re developing a series of performances linked to babysitting, and we want to expand our audience base through social media groups to continue raising awareness and engage with this issue. We’re also planning to create a newsletter. In September, we’ll have the premiere of Marika’s performance, which should bring the results of our research on cultural accessibility and intergenerational encounters to life. Then in early October, we’ll host a symposium on the “parent-friendly” approach, summarising where we’ve come and presenting a manual for other institutions to share our experiences and contacts.

Marika Smreková: The On Mobilisation project started in May 2023 and will run until 2025, culminating in an exhibition in Belgium and a book reflecting on our research, written in English. This way, others don’t have to start from scratch like we did. We’ve teamed up with the Berlin-based group Tanz und Elternschaft [Dance and Parenting], now in its second year, which is trying to motivate institutions to become more accessible. They recently published a guide called Kid and Caregiver Rider, which isn’t so much about how to organise babysitting but more about posing questions for institutions to help them develop their own solutions for better accessibility. We’ll likely build on their work. I’d also like to create a web platform to raise public awareness that there’s such a thing as “afternoon culture”—not just for parents with children, but perhaps for those who go to bed early too. Culture doesn’t have to start at eight o’clock! Looking back to when I was on maternity leave and frustrated by the lack of cultural opportunities, I now feel happy seeing institutions boast about performances starting at five o’clock. Something that once seemed unappealing can actually help improve an institution’s reputation.

Where is the trend towards parent-centred inclusivity coming from? Is it driven by activists, European Union grant requirements, or are we as a society simply becoming more sensitive to issues we used to ignore?

Marika Smreková: I think there are multiple reasons. People have started discussing how to plan cities for everyone, in dialogue with the people. In culture, grassroots organisations are addressing issues like no-growth and the climate crisis. Additionally, there’s been a growing feminist wave, visible in debates like the one over the Istanbul Convention. Many men are becoming more involved in critiquing patriarchy—not to criticise men, but to recognise that patriarchy is a system that harms everyone. It’s also helping that there’s less of a gap between carers and workers. In cultural institutions, leadership is diversifying. Men with primary caregiving experience and women who are mothers are taking leadership roles, and as a result, the topic of parenting has gained significance.

Petr Dlouhý: We’re not blazing a new trail here. What we’re doing is relatively new for our environment, but it’s not groundbreaking in the broader context. For me, the question of inclusivity for parents is linked to a broader question of what a cultural institution should be doing today. Just as ideas about art and cultural production are changing, so too should the role of institutions in an increasingly divided society. They should be looking for ways to be more accessible. Covid helped accelerate this shift in thinking and highlighted the need for institutions that can represent voices from diverse communities.

Why is the issue of parents and their entitlement to anything beyond caring for their offspring—whether work or leisure—so contentious?

Petr Dlouhý: It’s fascinating because, on the one hand, it seems simple, but on the other, it’s deeply complex. When we talk about babysitting in a cultural institution, it opens up all sorts of Pandora’s boxes in people’s minds.

Marika Smreková: People are afraid that children will misbehave and ruin the performance. But then the guide from the forest nursery says, “They’re human, they can be completely quiet for two hours without disturbing anyone.” This approach also helps humanise children. And we also need to recognise that the caregiver is a person with needs too, not just a role. It’s as if raising children should be associated with an ascetic lifestyle.

Did you come across anything that you thought would be good for inclusion but wasn’t?

Petr Dlouhý: It’s important to assess your own possibilities. Sometimes a great idea doesn’t work out simply because the resources aren’t there. But we can all do something, no matter how small. There is no perfect theatre for everyone, but there’s always room to make progress.

Marika Smreková: I’m reading the book Why Are We So Angry? and one of the examples it gives is about supporting a child. It’s not enough to just say, “Go ahead, play sports, I’m not forbidding you.” To truly support a child, you need to invest in them—pay for the course, buy the equipment. The same goes for cultural institutions. It’s not enough to just say, “We’re open to everyone.” We need to provide the support tools to make participation possible.

Translated with the support of DeepL, and proofread with the support of ChatGPT.
Original interview in Czech can be read HERE