Drawing by Aline Besouro

House 4 – Vicente: A Baby in the Course

Diana Kolker Carneiro da Cunha

When Rafa Éis and I were invited by Instituto MESA to collaborate in the coordination of a program at Casa Daros, Vicente (our son) was only three months old. Jessica Gogan and Guilherme Vergara – very precious people – never put any obstacles in way of having the baby with us and they let us decide what to do and how to do it.

In Brazil, the Ministry of Health recommends that babies should be nurtured exclusively with breast milk during the first six months. The Ministry of Labor ensures the right to four months of maternity leave, with the possibility of reaching a maximum of six months. This means most women need to entrust the care of their baby to others. How is it possible to breast-feed exclusively and at the baby’s need if most women need to go back to work four months after the birth? It is worth remembering that the bonding, emotional safety, and follow-up of development are just as important as nurturing. And all of that has to be experienced by the father, too. What can we say about the five days of paternity leave?

Undoubtedly, it would be a privilege to have our son with us at work but beyond this, the offer itself was fascinating: we would coordinate a course for young artists, together with friends we admire, at a respected institution and inspired by the period when Gerchman directed the School of Visual Arts (EAV). We were extremely tempted, but at the same time worried whether it would be feasible to work with a baby around. We decided to take it, and if the work routine affected him in a negative way or if we weren’t as competent as we normally are, the plans would be reconfigured. In the following month, we started meetings about the conception of the program. Bia Jabor, the art and education manager at Casa Daros and Eugenio Valdés Figueroa, the then director of art and education, happily welcomed the toothless little person and also our work with great confidence. Our baby, who was always with his mother – all safe and warm in a sling wrap and with constant access to his precious “mama” – seemed pretty receptive to his new routine. The challenge was ours and it was a difficult, but delicious one.

At first we believed that having Vicente around was important because it would make it possible to work and be together during his first months, but soon we realized it was much more than that. Vicente became a very significant part of the group. His presence never got in the way of anyone’s productivity. On the contrary, his presence activated us in that it filled the atmosphere with life, spontaneity and delicacy. It created a very favorable mood to our meetings. Vicente too was affected by the relationship with the artists, by our poetic experiences and by Casa Daros. In a phase in which the human being changes so much it is hard to measure the effects these encounters have. I’ve often asked myself what would Vicente be like if he had been home with another caregiver or with me but without his father, or in a kindergarten. And what about us? What would we be like?

During the course, he started to play, hug, caress, and express discomfort. He got his first nickname, Little Buddha. His first teeth appeared and he discovered flavors, textures, colors, shapes, sounds, and smells. He learnt that we are different people and with that he started to relate even more with me and with the world. He surely understood that before I did. Surrounded by the protection, love and care of his parents and of people outside his family, this new inhabitant of the world has already known friendship.

In this short video (Portuguese only) one of the Laboratory participants Aline Besouro shares her thoughts on the critical and radical role of Vicente’s presence in the course. The video was made during the evaluation meeting of the Contemporary Laboratory, on February 5, 2015 at Casa Daros.