Exhibition

- from the exhibition 'OPENING DOORS'

OPENING DOORS

MIGRANT RIGHTS CENTRE IRELAND : DOMESTIC WORKERS SUPPORT GROUP : SUSAN GOGAN

March 9th - April 5th 2007

‘Opening Doors’: Migrant Domestic Workers Speak Through Art: is an exhibition of collaborative photographic works by The Migrant Rights Centre Ireland’s Domestic Workers Support Group and artist Susan Gogan.

These collaborative works explore the obstacles facing Domestic Workers and highlight their skills, abilities and the invaluable contributions they make to Irish society. Also featuring a multimedia installation by the DWSG the result is a unique insight into the often invisible lives of those who increasingly care for our children and elderly.

The Migrant Rights Centre Ireland (MRCI) is a national organisation concerned with the rights of migrant workers and their families. MRCI has been working with migrant women including Domestic Workers for a number of years. The gendered nature of domestic labour, a sector where migrant ethnic women dominate, and the isolation, invisibility and poor regulation of this employment mean that they are at greater risk of exploitation. In response to the growing reports of difficulties experienced by migrant domestic and care workers MRCI established the Domestic Workers Support Group. The DWSG is made up of migrant women employed in the private home as carers and childminders who also have responsibility for cleaning and housekeeping. Its members have come together to address the barriers in accessing social and economic rights and to seek equality as women and as workers. This group is campaigning for the establishment of statutory protections that reflect the reality of their working lives.

Due to living and working in the same environment, the negotiation of private space can be a central part of the Domestic Worker’s everyday experience. The private home is constructed as a ‘sacred’ space and a paragon of the ideal, however negotiating this space requires skill, flexibility, and ingenuity as the worker has to deal with the power dynamics at play within the private household and to know when to be visible and invisible within this space. Their success is dependent on the relationships formed between the employer and employee, which sometimes can be tense.

Opening Doors is a response to these tensions. The production and exhibition of this work serves as a means of empowerment and social change as through the artistic process, photographic representation and the creation of meaning is placed in the hands of the women themselves. Spatial concerns resonate throughout the work. Through their collaboration in the creation of large contemporary photographic artworks, the women take control of the domestic space and make visible the positive and invaluable contribution they make to Irish society, as carers, childminders and housekeepers. The installation piece invites viewers into a space of privacy and personal expression where individual experiences are beautifully crafted into a textile work while a multi-media piece allows greater access to the meaning ascribed therein. Documentary photographic works shot by the women in black & white offer unique personal and artistic visions, moving between public and private spaces and illustrating the diversity of experiences of migration and of living and working in Ireland.

Supported by the Equality for Women Measure and the Arts Council's Artist in the Community Scheme managed by Create.

Gallery open: Tuesday - Saturday 11am-6pm, Sunday 1pm-6pm

Further information from:

Migrant Rights Centre Ireland

www.mrci.ie