Art, Motherhood and the Cultural Invisibility of Breastfeeding

Artist Lisa Creagh joins Christiane Monarchi, founder and editor of Photomonitor, for an in-depth conversation about the origins and development of the Holding Time Project. Exploring photography, feminism, maternal time and the cultural invisibility of breastfeeding, the discussion reveals how personal experiences of motherhood inspired an ambitious collaborative artwork. From animated portraits and glass timepieces to mothers’ recorded stories, the conversation examines how art can challenge social conventions and create new ways of representing maternal experience.

Bradford Mothers’ Voices Take to the Streets in the ‘Holding Time Milk Line’

The Holding Time Milk Line celebrates Bradford mothers through an immersive walking trail of art, poetry, and storytelling. Created by artist Lisa Creagh for Baby Week Bradford, the trail links Family Hubs and green spaces, inviting families to listen, reflect, and connect with local stories of motherhood, feeding, and wellbeing.

Growing Time: The Holding Timepiece and Maternal Time

The Holding Timepiece is a long-term artwork by Lisa Creagh exploring maternal time as something that grows rather than simply passes. Developed from Cosmatesque geometry, glass, photography, 2D and 3D animation, the Timepiece has evolved into the centrepiece of a planned VR Creative Health intervention for mothers with babies in neonatal intensive care.

Bradford Podcast | Creativity and Wellbeing Week

The Bradford Podcast amplifies mothers’ diverse voices on breastfeeding, adoption, milk donation, birth trauma, and cultural traditions—part of Holding Time’s wider Creative Health programme in Bradford.

Breastfeeding a Neurodivergent Child

I’ve come to realise why it was hard at times in my breastfeeding journey and a lot of this relating to being neurodivergent. As we see an increase in awareness around hidden disabilities, I hope other mums can feel confident to seek help if they’re finding it hard to breastfeed/parent a child with additional needs.

Stones a 5 minute film about Endometriosis…

Stones is a five-minute film by Lisa Creagh reflecting on 25 years of living with endometriosis and severe menstrual pain. Created as the first of a two-part work, the film uses personal memory to explore chronic illness, treatment, menopause and resilience. It was made in collaboration with Creagh’s daughter and acknowledges the pioneering surgery that made motherhood possible.

Writing for Wellbeing

I’m Rachel New, a broadcaster, writer and workshop facilitator. I’ve been running creative and therapeutic writing workshops for breastfeeding mothers, … More

Ablaze in Bradford

Bradford will host a range of exciting Creative Health events as part of the Holding Time project, aimed at raising breastfeeding awareness ahead of City of Culture 2025.

Cultural memories of breastfeeding: race, class and migration

Anna Horn writes about the challenges of breastfeeding her first child. Her unique perspective an African American offers valuable insight of the complexities around breastfeeding for black women here and abroad.

The Podcast

Gathering together key conversations from the Holding Time project about motherhood, breastfeeding, history, culture, support and more…!

Holding Time exhibition at Open Eye Gallery featuring photographic portraits, stop-motion images and interviews with mothers about breastfeeding and motherhood.

Open Eye Gallery Interview

Women are constantly faced with this difficult choice. And it is often a woman’s choice whether they want to carry on with their career and keep climbing the ladder and earning more and getting what they deserve, or whether they want to prioritise their children. There’s just this constant juggle of yourself over your child. I feel like I do prioritise myself a lot. I’ve been very selfish in many ways to continue with this work. The unselfish thing perhaps, would have been to go and get a job.

Let Mothers Be Well: Maternal Wellbeing at Open Eye Gallery

Let Mothers Be Well reflects on Holding Time’s Maternal Wellbeing Afternoon at Open Eye Gallery in Liverpool. The event combined breastfeeding storytelling workshops, a marketplace of maternity and family services, the Holding Time exhibition, peer-support discussion, live harp and a Singing Mamas workshop, creating a model for creative, social and community-based maternal wellbeing support.

Stories, Places, Spaces

I quickly realised that I needed a whole new map of my city: one that outlined the best places to meet, sit, feed without feeling awkward or in the way. better still, I needed places with built-in free activities ; mother groups, childrens activities for friends with toddlers and anywhere, ANYWHERE WITH CAKE.

Measuring Impact

Researchers at Wolverhampton University are gathering data on Holding Time’s impact on the community online and offline through surveys about breastfeeding attitudes

In this BLOG post Dr Lisa J. Orchard, Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the Faculty of Education, Health and Wellbeing at the University of Wolverhampton, introduces their innovative study, designed to measure the impact of the Holding Time Project on viewers. Please add your data to the survey!

Dr Vicky Fallon: Words and Power

Breastfeeding has profound and long-lasting health advantages, but the risks of poor maternal well-being run just as deep. The “breast is best” message has, in many cases, done more harm than good for both breastfeeding and formula feeding women. Words carry a lot of power and we need to be very careful of their use in future breastfeeding promotion campaigns.

For many, the current WHO recommendation of six months of exclusive breastfeeding is simply not realistic and can discourage mothers from even initiating breastfeeding. Instead we should follow a woman-centred approach where mothers are empowered to set their own realistic targets.

VR: mapping out the future

This year I received a prestigious DYCP Arts Council grant to explore the possibilities of Holding Time in VR. I set about researching the potential of VR to be a new way of showing the animation installation without the need for a ‘real’ space.

Bonding: Advice for New Mothers from Midwife Angelina Steinegger

In this Holding Time article, postnatal lead midwife Angelina Steinegger reflects on bonding and attachment in the first hours, weeks and months of a baby’s life. She explores the importance of holding, talking, singing, massage, skin-to-skin contact and responsive caregiving, while reassuring parents that bonding is a gradual process rather than something that must happen immediately after birth.

‘Takeover Tuesday’ Interview

AAF asked me to take over their Instagram feed one Tuesday recently and I had to accept, given their huge … More

Liverpool Collaborative Research Group Presentation

In my aim to bring The Holding Time Project to areas where breastfeeding is lowest, I came to appreciate the … More

Presentation at Warwick University Maternity Themed Clinical Trials Launch

I spoke about my project and the aims of partnering with the CTU for Coventry City of Culture. I showed the animated portraits, as well as a slideshow of stills. it was the first time I had presented the work in a meidcal setting and I found the atmosphere invigorating. It gave me new insight into how clinical trials lead the way to greater understanding of new approaches.