If someone does show keen interest in a more studious deepening of their language skills (or any other skill for that matter) we introduce them to our community exchange system (aka time bank) to find the teacher that would suit them best but would cost them no money.
When we started to explain the principle of exchanging hour-for-hour services one common question was: “I went to university and put all this effort into my study and career, how can that hour be the same value as an hour of a laborer with no formal education?”
Through conversations and presentations we invited the person to see a different perspective. Yes, you have studied, but someone was cleaning the streets so you could reach the university; someone made sure you do not get cholera from those dirty streets so you can graduate. Someone washed your clothes and cooked your meals … and so on. You get the gist. Each and every of our achievements is part of a carpet with many threads. Many a sheep were tended to by many a skilled shepherd for each of those threads; not to forget the skilled hands of the weaver.
So, the value of your hour is the value of your will to share your skill with someone who also has something to offer and share with you or any other member of the time bank.
The open-source time bank or community exchange system we use, is made up of individuals who list out the services they can offer whether it is making a cake, teaching a language, writing a project proposal, driving or even doing some auto mechanics. The time bank is a way of bringing people together who can carry out exchanges of knowledge and services based, not on a financial transaction, but on time and trust. This initiative takes time to grow and is as successful as how frequently it is used. We hope to see the Živi Atelje DK time bank grow.
The value of invisible labor
We live in a society of interconnectedness and can set up a system that reflects this awareness, and recognizes the importance of each individual and how we relate to the whole community.
In the production of Women to Women collective’s ceramics, the one sculpting the piece could not create it without the logistical, emotional and inspirational support of other members. The hug, smile, and dance, the making tea, coffee or food, cleaning, doing paperwork and lots more – each piece is automatically a collaborative piece. Just as a garbage collector is essential to someone’s medical degree and the hygiene of the city to individual health, so too are all the actions we do that contribute to the creation of art. This is why we developed a horizontal and transparent accounting system.
When a ceramic object is sold, the majority of the funds go to the artist, or artists, involved directly in its making. A small percentage goes to our organization, its programs and an emergency fund. The rest is shared among all the people who were most involved in the collective based on attendance. This form of shared distribution reflects the invisible labor within that object.
So, if you remember that cup you imagined at the beginning of our journey here, if you ever come to our exhibitions and Bazaar and purchase it, the money you invest will be a recognition of that overall interconnectedness.