Ditte Maria Bjerg

We develop the following narrative as a series of field notes by a sociologist (Amrita) learning how to use creative means to re-study her work, and a creative artist (Ditte) using the dual lens of an artist and a researcher. We focus on two moments in the making of our performance Made in India: Godh Bharai (ritual Hindu baby shower) organized by the surrogates for Amrita, and an embroidery project with the surrogates.On the one hand, both moments allowed us to interact with the surrogate mothers outside of their role as “disciplined motherworkers,” living under strict medical surveillance in surrogacy hostels (Pande, 2010). On the other, these experiences could be shared with audiences around the world – people who would otherwise never get to “interact” with the mother-workers in India. We explore both moments as community theatre, albeit involving two distinct communities – that of the surrogates and that of audiences. The ultimate ambition of the interactive performance Made in India: Notes from a Baby Farm is to bridge the two communities so that they can interrogate how they see themselves, how they see others, and how they see themselves in relation to others.