During the 6 weeks residency (January, February 2021) at the UR Institute in Zagreb (CRO) Maja Smrekar and Gjino Šutić have recreated the protocol published by the International Peace Maternity and Child Health Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiaotong University and collaborators in China (2016), optimized and modified it to be conducted using synthetic reagents supplemented with gonadotropin extracted from Smrekar's menopausal urine for reprogramming her EnSc’s into oocyte-like cells in order to develop and retell the narrative of a less invasive/intrusive alternative to IVF, to bring such technology closer to citizens, to raise their consciousness and to boost scientifc literacy. Furthermore, the recent events all over the world show us that the female body has been again used as a means of production in these times of populism in which the significance of the nation increases, placing great value on birth rate. Through such social regression the female body has often been again seen as property of the state, law and ideology. We therefore dedicate this project to all the Others out there and through our deeply dedicated hands on biohacking research & practice based process warmly wellcome further formations of strategic alliances to employ our hormones and bodily fluids as agents for utilizing pharmacologycal and technologycal tools as non invasive (bio)technologies. A further objective of reProductive narratives is to compose and execute science and art DIY workshop format that generates the subject of (post)reproductive body to be more approachable to public knowledge. Through such open-ended format we will engage and interact with citizens through dialogue, exchange of knowledge, as well as through co-development of open questions and their answers. We are very much looking forward to autumn when the workshop will take place. Stay tuned.
“reProductive narratives” are about time twisting that emerges when a concept of reproductive lienarity changes direction and turns backwards: Menstrual Blood Cells differentiation → Mesenchymal Stem Cells → Oocyte Cells.
Mesenchymal Cells Research