Saito Ritsuko (Ritz)
Tokyo
Architecture/Urban Development, Community engaged arts, Contemporary visual arts, Dance, Heritage, Theatre/Drama/ Contemporary circus
Ars/Care/Cultural Policy Study Group, Cultural Research Centre (National University of Singapore)
Ritsuko is a researcher at the Cultural Research Centre, National University of Singapore. Her current research focuses on the difficulties associated with childbirth and childcare in contemporary Japan. She is interested in how "play" (humour and flexibility) has been curtailed as a result of increased control and monitoring in caring practices and sites to avoid risk, and how caring responsibilities can be allocated socially without erasing the aspect of “play”. Her research interests include care ethics, children’s agency, maternal thinking, cultural policy in Japan and Singapore, anti-oppressive socialwork practices and decolonial approach.