A space for divergent families of all kinds to make change through art.
The Story
Kinfolk Families became an official CIC in 2024 but the story goes back to 2017 when founder, Rebecca Livesey-Wright, became pregnant. As a young(ish) solo, queer parent living away from their family of origin and living with (at the time) undiagnosed ADHD, Rebecca felt disconnected with contemporary representations of m*therhood.
A couple of years later, they launched The Single Parents Project which included an Instagram profile and printed zine featuring contributed from single parents across the UK, many of whom Rebecca had never met! Every contributor was paid, thanks to crowdfunding from supporter organisations.
In 2021, Rebecca was asked by RIG Arts to coordinate The Seedhill Project, one of 26 projects which formed the Culture Collective. Through being a part of the Collective, Rebecca established and facilitated a peer groups of m*ther artists and produced the film conversation, Trust Us, between m*ther artists who were also carers and/or cared for.
Since then, Rebecca’s experience in curating, facilitating, making and researching work which intersects matresence and the arts has continued to grow.
Under the umbrella of m*therhood x arts, they were selected for the Emerging Curator’s Group 2024 (British Arts Network), awarded a place on the Group Residency at Scottish Sculpture Studios in 2024, selected for the SMHAF online showcase 2024 and was approached to exhibition in Charmaine Beneyto’s show PostNatal at Lewisham Art House in 2024. All
Central to Rebecca’s practice is collaboration. The growth of Kinfolk Families from idea to realisation is indebted to all the brilliant people and projects Rebecca has collaborated with. We can’t list everyone but special thanks go to Meray Diner who featured Rebecca in her film ‘Parenthood of the Southside’, Laura Bradshaw, Morven Mulgrew and Siân Baxter who featured in Rebecca’s film ‘Trust Us’, Indra Wilson who collaborated with Rebecca on the SMHAF commission, ‘Invisible M*ther’, and all the writers and artists who contributed to The Single Parents Project zine.
Extra special thanks to Siân Baxter, Support Worker and Producer extraordinaire and partner to Rebecca.