Kara Manso is a temporary worker turned migrant activist turned contemporary artist. The work of the caregiver-as-artist takes its source material from her own experience both as a migrant worker and a migrant activist. Her preoccupation with the “robots” highlights the irony of care workers being treated without feelings within dehumanizing migrant work programs. Last year, when Manso first applied to be part of Mayworks, she used a pseudonym to avoid persecution by her employers. We also exhibited the robot head masks she had created to protect herself and other caregivers during demonstrations for decent work.

Kara Manso brings us The Future Is Caregiving, a series of drawings that documents the present “robotizing” process of the Canadian Live-in Caregiver program. She then invites us to become participants and engage in the future act of “de-robotizing” through an interactive installation.