The Talking of Objects: Migratory Experiences and Subjectivity of British Chinese Women
Methodology Talk with Denise Kwan Notes How the story of migration moves through and is told by a two piece set of pyjamas that we're in her mothers original suit case brought from Hong Kong to the UK The clothes you first wear to a new country representing who you are as a person She would have Chinese immigrant women bring any item they wanted to her to look into their meanings Despite the presence and knowledge of the Chinese culture it's almost a commodification of it, seeing as no one lives in China town and not much information about what it means to live as a Chinese person in London.
"The Orient was almost a European invention, and had been since antiquity a place of romance, exotic beings, haunting memories and landscapes, remarkable experiences... Unlike the Americans, the French and the British...have had a long tradition of what I shall be calling Orientalism, a way of coming to terms with the Orient that is based on the Orient's special place in European Western experience. The Orient is not only adjacent to Europe; it is also the place of Europe's greatest and richest and oldest colonies, the source of its civilizations and languages, its cultural contestant, and one of its deepest and most recurring images of the Other. In addition, the Orient has helped to define Europe (or the West) as its contrasting image, idea, personality, experience."
Edward Said, Orientalism What Said talks about here is that why are these stereotypes being portrayed of a culture that isn't personally known to be that way, this process of framing a culture is to as well frame themselves and looks into who has the power to say/create these stereotypes Gendering nation Feminisation of 'Asia' The Asian cultures are seen as a very feminine Versus the very masculine appearance of european Which simultaneously means the emasculation of Asian Men
"There's a reason this show persists as it feed the created hunger" - on Miss Saigon "Ethnicity is and should never be a make-up. It's an ethnic identity."
Denise Kwan
When we look at the item we only think of the aesthetic appeal rather than the politics behind it. Why does the throne need to be be within a British museum? This is one of the spoils of the looting of the old summer palace, that was taken to be sold and moved throughout a history of being sold off and expressing colonial control until finally ending up in the V & A
'Peep' - Sonia Boyce She demonstrates the things that are covered and the hinge we see versus not seeing, manipulation of the display and how knowledge through objects is controlled
Ruins of the Looted Summer Palace Where the throne was taken from is still present but not fairly well known and makes a point to how this part of the history is important to be preserved yet not mentioned
Wunderkammer 'Cabinet of Curiosities' Example of A projection forcing an opinion of what we want to see rather than the context behind the items on display
Hussein Chalayan - Autumn Winter 2000
“When people flee from the threat of death and total dispossession, the things and stories they carry with them may be all that remains of their distinctive personhood to provide for future continuity.
