Baby Blues – Haveit Collective

Haveit was formed in 2011 in an act of public resistance. Alketa and Lola Sylaj, and Vesa and Hana Qena – two pairs of sisters – performed as part of a wave of public protests against the culture of violence towards women. Sparked by the murder of Diana Kastrati at the hands of her ex-husband, it was to be the first of many actions raising awareness for the issues people prefer to sweep under the carpet.

With Baby Blues, they turn their attention to a less tangible form of violence: the oppressive code of behaviour expected of women around marriage and motherhood. The figures in this performance were inspired by the character of Laura Brown in The Hours.

A “prosperous and almost scandalously privileged” housewife, she finds herself suffocating in the tedium of domesticity. For the four women in the performance, whose agency is restricted to the command of a shopping trolley, their sphere of influence to the supermarket, it is the trembling body that articulates the first signs of resistance.

The performance of Baby Blues will take place from 20.00-20.15 on Saturday the 23rd of July.