Overworked 5

Irina: I saw this book in the library in the main display window. Two things crossed my mind: Faith and Singapore situation with migrant labor. Faith because I felt this is a kind of book she would be interested in (and obviously, she is - since I have not mentioned the book yet to her, while she is writing about it here), and Singapore as it is a big employer of poorer women from surrounding countries. Just like Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan - they all employ maids and computer manufacturing female labor from Asia. Many expatriate Caucasian women living in Singapore (American, French, German, Israeli - my friends), have Asian maids at home. We have had discussions about it in our Feminist Art Workshop that I conducted in a local art school. The main problem - representation. It’s still the same problem - the problem of speaking for others, on their behalf, for them, rather than with them, or even considering who this ‘them’ are. So for women artists the problem has not changed - how to do politics in art, politics in everyday life, how they are connected, what class means. It is not about paralysis, but rather about the opening, about connection. It should not become ‘cleansing ritual’ for white women, saving them of ethical nightmares. “Them” are never too far away, in foreign countries - they are part of YOUR aesthetic and ethic of everyday life too. And it’s ok - no need to get defensive. Do they need YOU? You how you are now - that’s the big question. Do you bring them anything but trouble, though good sleep to yourself? So, still about representation.