Work Like This: A public discussion around precarious labour, visibility and domestic work at Tate Modern

Andrea Francke                                                                                                    Andrea Francke was born in Peru and is currently based in London. She is currently developing two main research projects. Invisible spaces of parenthood: A collection of pragmatic propositions for a better future explores issues surrounding childcare in collaboration with local nurseries, childminders, children’s centres and parent groups. She shared about her experience during the workshop with J4DW at the Showroom and was so touch with the experiences of shared by members of J4DW. 

Marissa Begonia, Justice 4 Domestic Workers

discussed briefly all the workshops with Tate Modern, The Showroom, Mathias of FNV, ASK!, Werker Magazine. How the collaboration project help improve confidence of J4DW members and create their own artistic ARTS creation to express their stories and realisation of valuing the unwanted things around the household. The project also help in making Domestic Work visible in British Society and will contribute to the current campaign to restore the domestic worker visa with rights.

Visual artist Marc Roig Blesa and Graphic designer Rogier Delfos

Werker Magazine is a contextual publication about photography and labour that inquires into the possibility of formulating a contemporary representation of work. 

The Audience

The Workshop on WerKer Magazine

Choosing Category

Nora Razian (left) of Tate Modern

Louise Shelley (pointing picture) of the Showroom

Domestic workers use arts to voice rights in Europe

Dubbed as “Work Like This”, the event featured artists and activists working on projects about domestic work, highlighting a mutual struggle for recognition and visibility in wider society.

“It was interesting to look at how different artists take up this idea of invisibility and visibility, and work in a way that is parallel to the work that Justice 4 Domestic Workers is doing,” explained Nora Razian, curator of adult program at Tate Modern. By Patrick Camara Ropeta, ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau (Full Article)

Metropolitan's Classes

J4DW has been granted fund by Metropolitan Small Grants providing The ESOL and IT classes for Beginner and Advance learners to improve English and Networking for Migrant Workers and Migrants Domestic workers, Education is very important for Migrant Domestic Workers whose known as the most Vulnerable workers, to improve our knowledge to depend themselves, to build confidence  to be able to speak out for our rights and to lift up our images as human and as any others workers who have the rights as workers. The classes have started on 7th April 2013 and will continue until March 2014, below are pictures during the classes. J4DW believes that education is the way forward to ease our isolation towards freedom from slavery to champions of human rights and workers' rights.

ESOL Metropolitan Class with Tutor Clare

IT Metropolitan Class With Tutor Serena

The 2nd British Council film project (ESOL NEXUS)

On the 7th April 2013 J4DW (Justice 4 Domestic Workers) have done the short shooting with British Council for the 2nd ESOL NEXUS film, to know how their English has improved, and to know the changes for their living and working condition since the 1st film, below are the pictures that we could captured during the shooting

Shooting time in the Red Lion square park, Holborn

Preparing before shooting

Break time after shooting in the cafe, Holborn 

Tate Modern and Showroom April 21 2013

This coming Sunday J4DW www.j4dw.org will be in Tate Modern for "Work like this: A public discussion around precarious labor, visibility and Domestic work"Work Like This: OFF SITE EVENT at Tate Modern and the Showroom http://www.theshowroom.org/participation.html?id=1334%2C1442 We are also invited to documentary film showing, "Night Cleaners" at Tate Modern after our event, Join J4DW, Tate Modern, The show Room and The Werker Magazine (Marc Roig Blesa Rogier Frederik Hendrik Delfos) This Sunday April 21, 2-5PM @Tate Modern!

http://theshowroom.createsend1.com/t/ViewEmail/r/4FC83830CD9C14072540EF23F30FEDED

News & Events at The Showroom

theshowroom.createsend1.com

UPCOMING EVENT: .....................................................................................................................

• public discussion around precarious labour, visibility and domestic work OFF-SITE at Tate Modern, East Room Sunday 21 April, 14.00–17.00 Free, no booking required. Bringing together artists, activists, and the collective, Justice for Domestic Workers, this event will explore the relationship between domestic labour and artists' practice, specifically in relation to visibility and value. Presentations and discussion will look at how strategies of art production and distribution can inform and support social movements related to labour and visibility. Contributors are: Justice for Domestic Workers, Andrea Francke, and ‘Werker Magazine’ (Marc Roig Blesa and Rogier Delfos) This event is in collaboration with Tate Modern. Following the discussion there will be a screening of Nightcleaners by Berwick Street Collective in Tate Modern's Starr Auditorium.

Tate Modern

Bankside, SE1 9TG London, United Kingdom

View map · Get directions

Strengthening J4DW's Course

The  Strengthening J4DW Training  with the management committee and working groups  of J4DW which will run the six months.It aims to specifically provide us with knowledge and skills to work professionally in the day to day basis administrative work of J4DW. The course has started on 7th April 2013, the picture below is during the course with Tutor Eiri Ohtani.

http://youtu.be/nnS66fQJOcY

Our Rights, Our Responsibilities, Our Fight!

Justice for Domestic Workers Cordially Invites you to: J4DW's 4th Year Anniversary and International Women's Day Event

On the 06 of April, 2012 the British government remove the only  protection  that shelters migrant domestic workers here in the UK. The discriminatory and unfair removal of  the Oversaes Domestic  Workers Visa doesn't allow the  worker to change employer, renew  visa and access the right s as workers,making them more vulnerable  to  exploitation. The new legislation has driven them to be illegal and to the extent of criminalising them instead of respecting them as workers. Several  cases of abuse are recorded and many more are hidden in silence with fear.

Come  and join the discussion on 

"Legal Perspective for  Migrant Domestic Workers in the UK Open Forum"

Panellists:

Virgini Mantouvalou (Immigration Law  and Human Rights)

Emily  Gibbs (Criminal Law)

Jamila  Dunacn- Bosu (  Employment Law)

to be chaired by Don  Flynn, Director (Migrant Rights Network)

 "Strike!Dance!Rise with J4DW until Violence Stops against Women and Children"

                                                             One Billion Rising-UK!

  Who among you here have carers, babysitters, housekeepers, domestic  workers who serve your meals and help you get prepared for work,  take  care of your children with all   their hearts,   with all  their  time  and  with  all  their love, making  it  sure that they are safe..that these children of   yours will be able to give  you, dads and mums a big hug  and kiss after  a  long day of tiring work? Who among you here are being served on the table by these lovely aged hands who do wish to have been serving   her husband, her children, grandchildren but all for a wish? Who among you here have suffered for longing a family, missing parents and children for years in exchange of a small amount of penny? These are just few of the many struggles a vulnerable domestic worker is facing at the moment.  

On this very day of the One Billion Rising, where one billion women and men rise up to end  violence against women  around   the  globe, we ,  the Justice for Domestic Workers in the  UK rises  up  for our fellow domestic workers who suffered and are still in the combat to end  the abuse. We rise up for our sisters who are still caged secretly like dogs, locked up and raped, discriminated by unlawful eyes, ignored  and degraded for being a domestic worker. They say we are unskilled, we believe we are not. We are just being unrecognised by the society because we are hidden and tied up by most of our employers. We rise for them being beaten by their employers. We are not your stress basin! We are human beings like you. Every single slap of your hand, punches and kicks gave us pain and brought us scar. Don’t hit us with iron, it burn our skin. We are human beings like you!

On the 06^th of April, 2012 The British government removed the only protection that shelters the migrant domestic workers here in the UK. The discriminatory and unfair removal of the Overseas Domestic WorkersVisa doesn't give the vulnerable workers to change employer, renew visas and access the right as workers and so making them more vulnerable to exploitation. Given a short 6 months  of stay in the UK IS TREATING A DOMESTIC  WORKER LIKE A  HUMAN  LUGGAGE. The law driven them to be illegal and criminalising them instead of respecting them as workers. Several cases of abuse are recorded and many more are hidden in silence with fear.

J4DW March for the Alternative in protest to the removal of Domestic workers rights, October 20, 2012.

J4DW in ONE BILLION RISING GLOBAL CAMPAIGN 
to end violence against women and children

Let's Dance, Strike and Rise! One Billion Rising

                                  "Making Domestic Work Visible to the British Society"

Justice for Domestic Workers explored Tate with such great excitement and  enthusiasm! The weather was just fine and  sunny on that morning. Sundays have always been so  precious for us where we get to meet and socialise with other individuals and communities. Some are  fortunate  to exercise  their  rights  of holidays and breaks but many of the migrant domestic workers particularly in the UK continue to suffer in hidden and exploitative conditions. The project that was organised by the Tate Modern and in partnership with the Justice for Domestic Workers and Unite the Union with theme "Making Domestic Work visible in British Society". 

Saadiya and Nora of Tate tackled personal views to Henri Matisse' abstract collage "The Snail" and her own version.

It's aims are to a.) emphasize the value of domestic work done by domestic workers are relevantly significant to the  daily lives of the British society, regardless of their status whether from working ordinary  individuals or elites. b.) to   give migrant domestic  workers space to create, evaluate and to assert brilliant ideas through art c.) bring out a collective, creative and artistic  way of  campaign.

J4DW art workshops regularly fall every  fourth Sundays of the  month. Here,  each member get to express themselves and interact through open discussions and gallery tours. Every workshop  has  a theme  connected  to individual lives as migrant domestic workers, as working women in  the society, as mothers and as individuals who contribute  greatly to  the UK society. 

Busy J4DW working on their abstract collages

 "Domestic Workers are the shadows of education  and economy .We are the fundamental structures  that hold up the family, we mould children to be good individuals in the society yet we are often disregarded. We  are only noticed when we do mistakes at work but our great jobs seldom acknowledged or appreciated." Realizza Otarra explained.

One workshop done by the group with Nora Razian, art curator at Tate was the exploration to a genre of art,called Abstract.We were introduced  to various art works of renowned artists such as Henri Matisse(The Snail), Pablo Picasso(Bowl of Fruit, Violin and Bottle) Robert Delaunay(Endless Rhythm) and Constantin Brancusi (Fish). The workshop enables us to freely express our selves,our personalities and emotions through colours and shapes.