Based on a proposal by Cordão, a non-profit association, digital community and community diary about the process of having or not having children, after the last performance of the show Começar Tudo Outra Vez we will be holding an open conversation with artists Tonan Quito and Raquel André, creators of the show, and Joana von Bonhorst, founder of Cordão. Taking the participants’ artistic experience and personal and collective testimonies as a starting point, exploring the dimensions of desire, doubt, and the choice of whether or not to have children, we propose a joint reflection on current models and policies of parenthood and care, societal pressure, the community we need, and possible futures. An open conversation with the audience, a place for sharing, a participatory assembly on what it means to start over, to care and make decisions.

Joana von Bonhorst is the founder of the association and digital community Cordão, created in 2021 as a community diary about the process of having (or not having) children, based on her own experience of motherhood, bonding and mental health. Born and raised in Lisbon, von Bonhorst studied fashion, has been a mother for 7 years, a daughter for 34 years, and became a feminist activist by openly sharing the doubts, challenges and strains of her postpartum experience. In 2022, she founded the non-profit association Cordão to support families, offer psychological support and promote information about parenting.