Exhibition Highlights
Birth is the way we all arrive in this world—and each of us will repeat, prevent, delay, or reject reproduction during our lives. As we do, we will interact with designs of all kinds: products, devices, programs, and policies. While being born is a universal human experience, the designs that shape that experience are not.
Designs can make and break our experiences around reproduction, even if most of us are unaware of their development. Designing Motherhood invites us to consider why and how designs that facilitate reproductive health have been developed and to ponder their social, economic, and political implications. This exhibition highlights how birth and the culture that surrounds it affect every living person. These are not just women’s issues; they are human issues and they matter to us all.
This exhibition features topics including our bodies, reproduction, healthcare, and the care and feeding of babies.
Below are some highlights featured in the galleries.
Glass Baby Bottle
Glass Baby Bottle, early 20th century. Photo: Erik Gould. Image courtesy Designing Motherhood..
Pulled
Pulled, 2017, by Aimee Gilmore. Photo: Constance Mensh. Courtesy of Aimee Gilmore.
Fisher-Price Nursery Monitor
Fisher-Price Nursery Monitor, 1983. Photo: Erik Gould. Image courtesy Designing Motherhood.
Darquita and her mother, Denyeta
JEB (Joan E. Biren) (American, b. 1944) Darquita and her mother, Denyeta, 1979 Archival pigment print.
Scientific Prediction Dial
Scientific Prediction Dial, c. 1930s. Photo: Erik Gould. Image courtesy Designing Motherhood.
Kuddle-Up Blanket
DialPak Contraceptive Dispenser
DialPak Contraceptive Dispenser, ca. 2001. Invented by David P. Wagner (American, b. 20th century) in 1964. Photo: Erik Gould. Image courtesy Designing Motherhood.
Tassette
Tassette, invented 1937 and produced under this name from 1959. Leona Watson Chalmers (American, 20th century) and Robert P. Oreck (American, 20th century). Photo: Erik Gould. Image courtesy Designing Motherhood.
Crochet Breastfeeding Demonstration Set
Crochet Breastfeeding Demonstration Set, 2021. Knitted in Greenwood, Nova Scotia. Photo: Erik Gould. Image courtesy Designing Motherhood.
Whether and When
Holly Ballard Martz (American, b. 1965), Whether and When, 2020. Laboratory glass (separatory funnel, evaporator flasks, stopcock), PVC tubing, steel, paint.
