cleaning

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name: Luciana / age: 35 / profession: photographer / location: Amsterdam / weekday: saturday / reference: house upside down. working hard to circulating a positive energy. I believe when you organize things, you get good results.

lunch

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27817_1461893826527_6753416_nname: Felipe / age: 27 / profession: Artist / location: Bogotá / weekday: saturday / reference: I live in a farm outside Bogotá, I have breakfast and lunch outdoors.

Leaving home

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name: pilar / age: 51 / profession: architect / location: castellón / weekday: friday / reference: She is leaving home, but her only hand luggage is the shopping trolley, so she will go back. Another domestic excuse to occupy the public space. amsterdam, 1998.

me and my cute dog

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name: tessie / age: 39 / profession: domestic helper / location: singapore / weekday: every sunday off / reference: I love my dog so much, even though i have lots of work i still find time to play with her, cos she needs love and attention.

Arguing

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name: Lamis / age: 29 / profession: Housewerk practitioner / location: London / weekday: Sunday / reference: Luce Irigaray, How Can We Live Together in a Lasting Way, Key Writings, London: Continuum, 2004.

tower

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name: tziki / age: 42 / profession: artist and teacher / location: haifa / reference: improvised sculpture while cleaning the house

cleaning

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name: ulla / age: 31 / profession: artist / location: amsterdam / weekday: tuesday / reference: my mum is outside the tent cleaning the inside and outside of the tent, inside the light is like an orange sunset that surrounds you. the smell is a basement.

cleaning dust

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name: binna / age: 34 / profession: director & curator / location: utrecht / weekday: tuesday / reference: domestic work as a suspension of other work at home riddled with anxiety (over the spent time and therefore less time for other work or experiencing catharsis (getting things done and making a proper home ground) it demands its own time and peace.

beau travail

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name: rogier / age: 30 / profession: graphic designer & artist / location: amsterdam / weekday: thursday / reference: still from ‘beau travail’ (1999) by claire denis, 90 min. with denis lavant, michel subor, grégoire colin, richard courcet. this film focuses on an ex-foreign legion officer as he recalls his once glorious life, leading troops in the gulf of djibouti.

endless story

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name: agne / age: 24 / profession: artist / location: amsterdam / weekday: friday / reference: everyday in Lisbon they build their houses from cardboard boxes. every day in different location. at different time. with different neighbors… never the same view through the window.

ASk!

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name: Realizza / age: 25 / profession: domestic worker & visual artist / location: london / weekday: sunday / reference: justice for domestic workers with Ask! (actie schone kunsten) creating aliances at the showroom.

dirty creature

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filthy-creaturename: laura / age: 25 / profession: teacher & artist / location: wolverhampton / weekday: tuesday / reference: The studio sink, a filthy creature shared by many, it cleans but never gets cleaned.

artificial silence

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111name: neodoze / age: 21 / profession: designer / location: madrid / weekday: thursday / reference: Silence. (lat. silentĭum) 1. m. Abstention from speaking. 2. m. Lack of noise. 3. m. Lack or omission of something in writing. Artificial. (lat. Artificialis). 1. adj. By hand or art of man. 2. adj. Unnatural, false. 3. adj. Produced by human ingenuity.

MIRRORING MY MORNING

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mirrorname: manu / age: 35 / profession: graphic designer / location: zurich / weekday: Sunday / reference: THIS ‘ICH’ MIRROR IS PART OF AN INSTALLATION OF GLASS PIECES IN THE BEAUTIFUL GARDEN OF A GOOD FRIEND. VISITING HIM AND HIS FAMILY IN THE COUNTRY IS LIKE GOING TO AN ISLAND…WITH TIME FOR REFLECTING ABOUT MYSELF, SITTING THERE…DAZZLED BY LITTLE REFLECTIONS DANCING ON THE PLANTS.

CLEAN BEDSPREADS

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name: pilar / age: 51 / profession: architect / location: Castellón / weekday: wednesday / reference: During Corpus Christi procession, women hang out in their balconies the best bedspread or tablecloth, clean and perfectly ironed. photo taken in Castellón, 1993.

invisibility

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name: katayoun / age: 27 / profession: freelance writer, curator, translator / location: amsterdam / weekday: Wednesday / reference: mother wants to talk about cleaning

the desperate kingdom of love

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the_desperate_kingdom_of_lovename: Rafael / age: 33 / profession: artist / location: campo largo / weekday: sunday / reference: home, love, loneliness, desires, pj harvey, wishes, melancholy, flowers, woods, sad nature, music, body, pain, hope, some places, some feelings…

freelancer’s joy

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freelancer delight 2name: Flavia / age: 30 / profession: graphic designer – illustrator / location: toronto / weekday: friday / reference: mi compañero trabajando en su escritorio en compañia de nuestro gato ‘cuco’, algo que jamás podríamos hacer trabajando para un estudio.

bouche-évier

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560897_522703-stopperaname: marc / age: 30 / profession: artist / location: amsterdam / weekday: wednesday / reference: sink stopper, marcel duchamp, 1964. he made it unintentionally, filling in the leaking section of his shower head with lead. it eventually became unusable and he had it cast.

tools

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name: lucía / age: 35 / profession: artist / location: barcelona / weekday: monday / reference: professional order, invisibility, silence, working conditions

shadow

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name: Realizza / age: 25 / profession: domestic worker & visual artist / location: london / weekday: wednesday / reference: we, domestic workers play a big role in molding children inside the household yet we are deprived from recognition and acknowledgement. we are the beginning and end of all labours but we are deprived from being called workers. we are like shadows of the economy and education.

food journey 1

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name: Ernst / age: 21 / profession: artist / location: Amsterdam / weekday: Monday / reference: Grandma’s on their way to the supermarket. This daily routine is keeping their lifes busy.

Laundry

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name: lucía / age: 35 / profession: artist / location: barcelona / weekday: thursday / reference: storm. collect clothes and drop them indoors.

The fruit of my Labour

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name: Jena / age: 38 / profession: Domestic worker / location: Singapore / weekday: thursday / reference: While working as a domestic worker, I also think of my future and family even with my little salary, I always make sure that I save every month. So far I have now farmland with fruits  and rice fields. I also managed to build my own house bit by bit. I am looking forward to settle back home with my 2 children and husband waiting for me. I am only few among my fellow domestic workers whose Family is not torn apart by surviving urgent needs only to go home with broken family. domestic workers have to leave our family back home in the hope of better life and future of our children and families. Many do not understand us that we have to leave them but for us it is a matter of love and responsibility with strong hope that one day we can be reunited again.

Sunflower

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name: Anacoreta / age: 57 / profession: domestic worker / location: amsterdam / weekday: wednesday / reference: there is always hope for domestic workers to have a better life, respect and to be recognized within society.

AIsd

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2014-07-21name: -jl / age: 35 / profession: web designer & photographer / location: Barcelona / weekday: monday / reference: AISd stands for “Auto imposed sensorial depravation”. This is the view from My home-office. I get no sunlight except for 40min around 15h. The rest of the time i don’t know what time it is or if is it cold, hot or raining.

RSI Day job

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name: Reinilde / age: 25 / profession: Artist / location: Amsterdam / weekday: sunday / reference: Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI). Anybody who regularly makes continuous repetitive motions for a length of time runs the risk of contracting RSI. The initial stage of RSI is characterized by tingling and tired arms, neck or shoulders.  These symptoms can develop into persistent pain and loss of strength in arms and hands. In this phase treatment is often no longer successful.

x-mas

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144_Sunday_X-mas-768x1024name: Anacoreta / age: 57 / profession: domestic worker / location: amsterdam / weekday: sunday / reference: my family back home missing them too much. Long years of sacrifices.

being a prop bitch pays, untill the paint fumes kill

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name: Laura Jane / age: 23 / profession: cinema worker & print maker / location: hackney / weekday: monday / reference: we worked last summer for a prop design company in brixton, we had to trim 1000 giant paper roses that were made in china and then shipped over to us to trim and style and then be painted because they had been made in the the wrong colour. The roses painted the roses in the same room as us which had no ventilation but we were not allowed to open the roll up door because the warehouse backed onto coldharbour lane which we got told by a man walking by when did rebel and open the shutter that this was murder mile, but everywhere in london has there own murder mile. this was a horrible job but it was the best paid job ive had since i graduated with a fine art degree.

Invisible Domestic Labour: The Dusting Frenetically Series

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name: Lamis / age: 29 / profession: Housework Practitioner / location: London / weekday: Monday / reference: “I perceive that the work we raise is not unique, nor isolated, that the air around it constitutes other surfaces, other grounds, other ceilings […] The work is not made only of itself: the outside exists. The outside shuts me in its whole which is like a room.” Le Corbusier, Precisions, (New York: MIT Press, 1991) p.78.

kitchen

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name: Sarah / age: 23 / profession: student / location: amsterdam / weekday: wednesday / reference: Amsterdam City Archives, typically old-fashioned household in Amsterdam, woman cooks for the family.

self-portrait as a housewife

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name: Janneke / age: 30 / profession: Visual artist / location: London / day: saturday / reference: For my 30st birthday my parents gave me a beautiful bone china dinner set, which I took as symbolic hint to move away from my tiny appartment and start a family life. as to fortify that suggestion They also gave me a kitchen apron they had brought back with them from their holiday in Switzerland. so this is me giving my best immitation of a happy housewife.

leaking water

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DSC00195name: catoo / age: 19 / profession: art student / location: amsterdam / weekday: sunday / reference: office toilet changed into bathroom but please don’t use this shower, it’s leaking to much water.

work break

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having a break from my work, from time to time. I go to the toilet / bathroom. It's the only time my employer won't bother me.name: dina / profession: domestic worker / location: london / weekday: wednesday / reference: Having a break from my work, from time to time. I go to the toilet / bathroom. It’s the only time my employer won’t bother me.

Domestic Worker can be an entrepreneur

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name: Jena / age: 38 / profession: Domestic worker / location: singapore / weekday: Sunday / reference:  We often asked ourselves, is there life after being a migrant domestic worker? My answer is yes! But we need to work hard and be dedicated to achieve this. We also need to learn the basic mathematics earnings – expenses = savings. Every Sunday during my day off I spend some time in studying and sometime in volunteering to serve my fellow domestic workers. I chose the entrepreneurship course because that’ how I see myself after being a domestic worker. On my graduation day, I even received an award ‘best business plan’ which is also based on my own business plan as entrepreneur someday.

rentability

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name: maría / age: 43 / profession: artist, researcher & teacher / location: barcelona / weekday: monday / reference: freedom, equality, rentability. still from ‘tiempo real’ (2003) by maría ruido, 43 min.

in between

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name: Yule / age: 21 / profession: illustration student / location: Antwerp / reference: This is the space between the cold and the heat, warm coats against a cold wall.

In Memory of Athiraman Kannan

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name: trenton / age: 30 / profession: publisher / location: london / weekday: wednesday / reference: on the 11th may 2011 news reached jeddah that a man, later to named athiraman kannan, had the previous day, jumped to his death from the 147th floor of the world’s tallest building; the burji khalifa. from india, he came to dubai to work. he cleaned the newly opened building. in an attempt to honour athiraman kannan, and his courageous call for attention to the lives of migrant workers, that afternoon i photographed what i had in previous weeks started to describe as a ‘pop out city’. these spaces were described to me by the domestic workers as an attempt at permanency, comfort and retreat in an always vulnerable and precarious life as a migrant worker. unlike the families they worked for, whose life exists almost entirely behind these walls, their lives exist on the street, which is forging new notions ‘the public’ in city largely concerned with ‘privacy’. (image taken the 11th may 2011 in al naeem, jeddah.)

Semiotics of the kitchen

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wurstelname: marianna / age: 31 / profession: curator / location: Berlin / weekday: Monday / reference: * (8.30 pm, exausted): Did you buy some food for dinner? / ° (still stuck at the laptop): No, I didn’t have time, I had tons of email to answer / *(exausted and a/hu/ngry): I had many emails, too… / °: yes, but you work from home…

not going to the supermarket

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cistellsname: llibreria La caníbal sccl / age: 6 months / profession: bookstore clerks / location: barcelona / weekday: tuesday / reference: store local farmers’ ecologic vegetables for urban customers to pick them up. if you have a urban space with a regular opening schedule, offer it at no cost to local farmers/customers as a picking point. and let monsanto burn in hell.

moving

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name: adam / age: 30 / profession: landscape architect / location: hong kong / weekday: thursday / reference: cultural workers move/migrate for residencies, exhibitions, appointments, teaching, internships, etc.

1 minute of heaven

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name: charlotte / age: 26 / profession: student / location: ANtwerp / reference: Living in a dorm is sharing a toilet. This photo was taken after the cleaning lady came by. It’s the only time of the week you don’t find weird liquids in the toilet seat or the floor.

nails

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IMG_1504baixaname: Luciana / age: 37 / profession: photographer / location: Netherlands / weekday: sunday / reference: nails painted, community work, beauty for free, having fun, queen’s day, children, beauty, keep elegant, body painting

Manifestación 1 de mayo

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pancartasindihogar (1)name: sindihogar members are women from, bolivia, nepal, nigeria, chile / age: 20 a 45 / profession: domestic and care workers / location: Barcelona / weekday: wednesday / reference: Sindihogar joining the international woman’s day demonstration. Barcelona 2013.

pet

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name: Machiel / age: 20 / profession: Art student / location: amsterdam / weekday: wednesday / reference: Invisible pet, named gary. I feed him every day, in return he shits on my kitchen stove. have only seen him twice. one fine friend.

saldão

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IMG_0845baixaname: Luciana / age: 37 / profession: photographer / location: Amsterdam / weekday: tuesday / reference: during my walking around the city centre i found a second hand camera shop in são paulo-brazil

free wifi

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name: maiko / age: 33 / profession: curator / location: amsterdam / weekday: thursday / reference: cafe in berlin. taking a moment to eat my salad after frantically catching up on emails (no internet where i was staying).

Invisible Domestic Labour: The Dusting Frenetically Series

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name: Lamis / age: 29 / profession: Housework Practitioner / location: London / weekday: Monday / reference: ‘I perceive that the work we raise is not unique, nor isolated, that the air around it constitutes other surfaces, other grounds, other ceilings […] The work is not made only of itself: the outside exists. The outside shuts me in its whole which is like a room.’ Le Corbusier, Precisions, (New York: MIT Press, 1991) p.78.

97 HOUSE MAIDS

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name: daniela / age: – / profession: artist / location: barcelona / weekday: thursday / reference: 97 selected photographs showing groups of Peruvian high class people in daily domestic situations. In the background of each image one can see either a figure or a deletion of a domestic worker. All images have been collected from the social network site Facebook. Project by Daniela Ortiz.

Beat your carpets here!

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name: Riitta / age: 57 / profession: social historian & photographer / location: pohjois-haaga, helsinki / reference: Carpet racks are used for beating carpets in the yard. The hum of the vacuum cleaner has largely replaced the sounds of explosion from pounding the carpets. Nevertheless, carpets are still hoisted onto the carpet rack almost ritually for a thorough cleaning. This is often done in midwinter as dust mites die in the freezing cold. In the capital Helsinki, you can find carpet racks adjacent to apartment blocks, single-and multi-family homes and even the Cathedral. These simple and sturdy constructions have been installed for decades in front yards and backyards in the city center as well as the suburbs. Paradoxically enough, while carpet racks have become part of the outdoor furniture, as it were, they tend to pass unnoticed due to their ubiquity. They are also unintended monuments to domestic work. See more racks here: http://www.polarinertia.com/apr12/carpet01.htm

domestic finance

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Domestic Finance name: Yuji / age: 26 / profession: student / location: madrid / weekday: thursday / title: Domestic Finance / reference: thursday, 23:53, calculating the value of your month.

slaughterhouse

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slaughterhouse name: elsa / age: 21 / profession: student / location: besançon / weekday: thursday / reference: self-representation, voluntary work with friends in slaughterhouse. Impossible to enter in the rooms of killing. try to understand, meat. work easy but place cold and strange.

Boarding life

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name: jort / age: 25 / profession: visual artist / location: amsterdam / weekday: thursday / reference: Dartington Hall School (1926-1987) offered progressive education and a coeducational boarding life. As a first to do so it was notorious for mixed sleeping.

sphere

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name: Realizza / age: 25 / profession: domestic worker & visual artist / location: london / weekday: monday / reference: a whole vision that justice for domestic workers are into a sphere, round and bold.

In Memory of Athiraman Kannan

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name: trenton / age: 30 / profession: publisher / location: london / weekday: wednesday / reference: on the 11th may 2011 news reached jeddah that a man, later to named athiraman kannan, had the previous day, jumped to his death from the 147th floor of the world’s tallest building; the burji khalifa. from india, he came to dubai to work. he cleaned the newly opened building. in an attempt to honour athiraman kannan, and his courageous call for attention to the lives of migrant workers, that afternoon i photographed what i had in previous weeks started to describe as a ‘pop out city’. these spaces were described to me by the domestic workers as an attempt at permanency, comfort and retreat in an always vulnerable and precarious life as a migrant worker. unlike the families they worked for, whose life exists almost entirely behind these walls, their lives exist on the street, which is forging new notions ‘the public’ in city largely concerned with ‘privacy’. (image taken the 11th may 2011 in al naeem, jeddah.)

jungle

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name: Sébastien / age: 36 / profession: civil servant / location: The hague / weekday: monday / reference: An underpopulated building: the only content of this room is a fax, of that room, a dart game. the people working there seem to abhor its emptiness.

bricolage galore

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name: rogier / age: 31 / profession: graphic designer / location: amsterdam / weekday: sunday / reference: contrasting materials assembled for trash define variety of labour of a post-fordist worker.

cleaning windows

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name: Realizza / age: 25 / profession: domestic worker & visual artist / location: london / weekday: friday / reference: one of the domestic worker’s job is to teach children inside the household the good values of cleanliness and orderliness as they will bring these as they grow.

inedible

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name: Kim / age: 54 / profession: artist, curator / location: St. louis Missouri/ weekday: thursday / reference: a trash bin behind a tourist oriented restaurant on Laclede’s landing near the st louis arch. how nice of them to label the can for those that might think otherwise!

birthday cake

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name: Minke / age: 30 / profession: Communication consultant / location: amsterdam / weekday: thursday / reference: Sabrina’s dad baked a huge apple pie for her birthday party. she got sick, no party. we took the cake to our studio and ate it in two days with the five of us.

In Memory of Athiraman Kannan

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name: trenton / age: 30 / profession: publisher / location: london / weekday: wednesday / reference: on the 11th may 2011 news reached jeddah that a man, later to named athiraman kannan, had the previous day, jumped to his death from the 147th floor of the world’s tallest building; the burji khalifa. from india, he came to dubai to work. he cleaned the newly opened building. in an attempt to honour athiraman kannan, and his courageous call for attention to the lives of migrant workers, that afternoon i photographed what i had in previous weeks started to describe as a ‘pop out city’. these spaces were described to me by the domestic workers as an attempt at permanency, comfort and retreat in an always vulnerable and precarious life as a migrant worker. unlike the families they worked for, whose life exists almost entirely behind these walls, their lives exist on the street, which is forging new notions ‘the public’ in city largely concerned with ‘privacy’. (image taken the 11th may 2011 in al naeem, jeddah.)

elements

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name: Realizza / age: 25 / profession: domestic worker & visual artist / location: london / weekday: Thursday / reference: picking up shells and stones one thursday afternoon down by the queen elizabeth walk with the children. picture shows various elements of arts.

unfinished novel

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name: andrea / age: 32 / profession: writer & part-time bookseller / location: barcelona / weekday: sunday / reference: en mi biblioteca hay un tramo en el que las cosas dejan de estar en vertical porque no caben… ¡o necesitan descasar!

In Memory of Athiraman Kannan

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name: trenton / age: 30 / profession: publisher / location: london / weekday: wednesday / reference: On the 11th May 2011 news reached Jeddah that a man, later to named Athiraman Kannan, had the previous day, jumped to his death from the 147th floor of the world’s tallest building; the Burji Khalifa. From India, he came to Dubai to work. He cleaned the newly opened building. In an attempt to honour Athiraman Kannan, and his courageous call for attention to the lives of migrant workers, that afternoon I photographed what I had in previous weeks started to describe as a ‘pop out city’. These spaces were described to me by the domestic workers as an attempt at permanency, comfort and retreat in an always vulnerable and precarious life as a migrant worker. Unlike the families they worked for, whose life exists almost entirely behind these walls, their lives exist on the street, which is forging new notions ‘the public’ in city largely concerned with ‘privacy’. (Image taken the 11th May 2011 in Al Naeem, Jeddah.)

lint explorer

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Lint Explorer (werker)name: ronan / age: 23 / profession: artist / location: brittany, france / weekday: tuesday / reference: tumble dryer filter (img1) and dried clothes in a tumble dryer (img2). from the same drying sequence.

bath-time

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name: maiko / age: 33 / profession: curator / location: amsterdam / weekday: thursday / reference: my friend place in berlin. to take a bath you need to pull out the tub from underneath the kitchen sink.

Action 2

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name: Flatten the Mountain (Zoe & Eira) / age: 26 / profession: Artist collaborative / location: London & Glasgow / weekday: wednesday / reference: hold towel up to head and obscure face

cleaning for revolution!

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name: marc / age: 30 / profession: artist / location: amsterdam / weekday: monday / reference: In the global movement that occupied central squares all over the world in 2011, cleaning and caring for public space became part of protesters actions. plaça catalunya, barcelona.

twillight

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name: Zeev / age: 36 / profession: Filmmaker / location: jerusalem / reference: self-portrait taken by my daughter before going to bed.

weekly countdown

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name: charlotte / age: 26 / profession: Student / location: Antwerpen / reference: Every week I count down the days until the weekend. So I can escape the city and go back to the countryside, where it’s peaceful and where I’m surrounded by nature.

A Dedication of Life

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name: Marissa / age: 41 / profession: domestic worker & coordinator / location: london / weekday: wednesday / reference: (when domestic worker’s sacrifice is too much to bear and fighting to survive is the only way) / “Oh, God! Please Let our sister Live…..”, 6 Months she may survive, 1 year maybe or even 5 years she may reach, A last stage of cancer she is so determine to defeat, Going Home to Philippines seems hell and bitter, As she found sweet refuge in UK as her Home / A smiling face greeted me as I open the door, Full of life with no trace of fear and sorrows, Dying is too near and yet too far to embrace her, Strength within I wonder where it from, As I hold her to feel her warm heart again / A family and life she would live to fight for, Unfulfilled dreams she may have had, Oh, our loving God, her thoughts are so founded and real, As she whisper her wishes through the air, Like an arts of life wandering around / Oh, God! Please let her life be spare, When would that be, please not too soon, Powerless I may to you, I dare not challenge you, You alone and only you would let us live, Oh, not let death be the short vengeance, When living could be her penance of fulfillment.

recycling the recycle

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name: Marissa / age: 41 / profession: Domestic Worker & Coordinator / location: london / weekday: Tuesday / reference: Domestic workers play major role in keeping environment clean and green. this work and contribution is often unseen when things are done properly but get noticed when things go wrong. justice for domestic workers (J4dw) demand recognition in ‘making domestic work visible in british society’.

abjected

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name: Realizza / age: 25 / profession: domestic worker & visual artist / location: london / weekday: Thursday / reference: the lady justice was ripped off, beaten, exploited, harassed, humiliated, enslaved, abused, cursed and worst… that lady justice is for sale.

deportation

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name: maría / age: 43 / profession: artist & researcher & teacher / location: barcelona / weekday: monday / reference: danger of deportation. still from ‘tiempo real’ (2003) by maría ruido, 43 min.

moving

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name: adam / age: 30 / profession: landscape architect / location: hong kong / weekday: thursday / reference: cultural workers move/migrate for residencies, exhibitions, appointments, teaching, internships, etc.

WASHING PLACE

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name: pilar / age: 51 / profession: architect / location: castellón /
weekday: tuesday / reference: Vicentica is 82 years old. Her son has bought her a washing machine, but she still prefers to use the washing place in the street. She needs a domestic excuse to occupy the public space. Almenara, 1996.

terrace

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name: yule / age: 21 / profession: illustration student / location: antwerp / reference: The terrace is a space between public and private, it’s a ‘happy place’. people only go there when the weather is good, when they feel good and usually with others. people don’t want the outside world to see the negative.

we don’t want work

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name: maría / age: 43 / profession: artist, researcher & teacher / location: barcelona / weekday: saturday / reference: we don’t want work, we want money. still from ‘tiempo real’ (2003) by maría ruido, 43 min.

Action 4

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name: Flatten the Mountain (zoe & eira) / age: 26 / profession: Artist collaborative / location: London & Glasgow / weekday: friday / reference: sit on floor and expose lower leg

squirts

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name: christina / age: 27 / profession: multidisciplinary artist & product designer / location: Athens / reference: with stimulation, some women are able to ejaculate. it can involve large qualities of fluid(and laundry) for some women, but it doesn’t always involve a geyser shooting from down-below. it can happen at the same time with orgasm sometimes, some others not at all. either way it is certainly much fun. it is a watery, clean or sometimes milky liquid produced from glands (female prostate) inside the urethral sponge. ejaculate and urine come out of urethra but they do not have the same consistency.

mi casa es tu casa

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wahing machinename: luca / age: 27 / profession: graphic designer / location: amsterdam / weekday: monday / reference: in order to cover the whole rent of the studio i live in, me and my landlord –which often comes to work here– decided to rent my bedroom on airbnb to tourists for some 10 days a month. in this way, we can continue to use this space, but we have to take care of changing bed sheets and towels, fixing the windows for the winter, warming up the space before they arrive, clean after they left, and having our stuff always randomly displaced across the studio. be the boss of yourself—one step further.

Domestic worker can make a change

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name: Jena / age: 38 / profession: Domestic worker / location: Singapore / weekday: Sunday / reference: We run in aid to save the lives of our fellow domestic workers in destitution. Domestic workers in Singapore are still very vulnerable without rights and protection. We would like to highlight the need to improve the working and living conditions of migrant domestic workers in Singapore. Domestic workers are workers and not slaves.

season sale

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name: hanna / age: 22 / profession: art student / location: antwerp / reference: With every season that comes the right outdoor furniture and accessories will be taken out to display and the other ones will be stocked back inside.

organizing

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name: ANACORETA / age: 57 / profession: DOMESTIC WORKER / location: the netherlands / weekday: Monday / reference: informing other domestic workers about the importance of being together fighting for workers rights.

bohemian odalisca studying at home

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calmluxe and voluptename: esther / age: 53 / profession: independent actionist artist and researcher / location: london / weekday: wednesday / reference: this picture is part of a series about work and studying at home as action and a sort of protest related to the constant making of art products that artist are some how lured on to by the capitalist art making machine. la boheme is at home, she reminds any modernist model of a male painter of the times past, but she is in fact in control and working, as the portrait is taken with a self timer camera on a tripod. She is like luxe, calm and volupté but her mind is very busy she can’t help to work to move to act on that supposed stillness of her coquete pose.

dictionnaray

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name: derveloy / age: 29 / profession: designer / location: arnhema / weekday: monday / reference: dictionnaray / dictionnaryday go, little booke, god send thee good passage, And specially let this be thy prayer, unto them all that thee will read or hear, where thou art wrong, after their help to call, thee to correct in any part or all. From our dear home dictionnary.

Mr

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kitchenname: Jameson / age: 30 / profession: Teacher & Journalist / location: Draycott / weekday: monday / reference: Washing up done, recycling to go!

the inbetweens

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name: margarita / age: 27 /
location: amsterdam / weekday: tuesday / reference: everything before and after this breakfast table is domestic work. gathering, preparing, setting… then, gathering, cleaning, putting away. it is always bookended by these tasks, so you draw out the inbetween for as long as you can. (photograph of my grandfather and our daily breakfast ritual)

big foot

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name: Realizza / age: 25 / profession: domestic worker & visual artist / location: london / weekday: saturday / reference: saturday night is my bedtime story night with the big boys i’m taking care after to. photo taken in singapore.

In Memory of Athiraman Kannan

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name: trenton / age: 30 / profession: publisher / location: london / weekday: wednesday / reference: On the 11th May 2011 news reached Jeddah that a man, later to named Athiraman Kannan, had the previous day, jumped to his death from the 147th floor of the world’s tallest building; the Burji Khalifa. From India, he came to Dubai to work. He cleaned the newly opened building. In an attempt to honour Athiraman Kannan, and his courageous call for attention to the lives of migrant workers, that afternoon I photographed what I had in previous weeks started to describe as a ‘pop out city’. These spaces were described to me by the domestic workers as an attempt at permanency, comfort and retreat in an always vulnerable and precarious life as a migrant worker. Unlike the families they worked for, whose life exists almost entirely behind these walls, their lives exist on the street, which is forging new notions ‘the public’ in city largely concerned with ‘privacy’. (Image taken the 11th May 2011 in Al Naeem, Jeddah.)

Me with my mess

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name: Nina / age: 18 / profession: Student / location: Warsaw / reference: I was lost in my life, Now i know i’m just a mess.

Moldy jar

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mold013name: Antonia / age: 42 / profession: designer / location: montreal / weekday: saturday / reference: a fungal encounter by chance — cleaning day — domestic networks

Recognition

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name: Anacoreta / age: 57 / profession: domestic worker / location: amsterdam / weekday: thursday / reference: many domestic workers have no future if we are not recognized. Our future is on your hands… Do something for us… recognize our contribution.

Siesta

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siesta
name: Angela / age: 27 / profession: Artist & student / location: Madrid / weekday: Sunday / reference: When you wake up and then there is a war into your livingroom and you feel afraid of humans

In Memory of Athiraman Kannan

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name: trenton / age: 30 / profession: publisher / location: london / weekday: wednesday / reference: on the 11th may 2011 news reached jeddah that a man, later to named athiraman kannan, had the previous day, jumped to his death from the 147th floor of the world’s tallest building; the burji khalifa. from india, he came to dubai to work. he cleaned the newly opened building. in an attempt to honour athiraman kannan, and his courageous call for attention to the lives of migrant workers, that afternoon i photographed what i had in previous weeks started to describe as a ‘pop out city’. these spaces were described to me by the domestic workers as an attempt at permanency, comfort and retreat in an always vulnerable and precarious life as a migrant worker. unlike the families they worked for, whose life exists almost entirely behind these walls, their lives exist on the street, which is forging new notions ‘the public’ in city largely concerned with ‘privacy’. (image taken the 11th may 2011 in al naeem, jeddah.)

fleeting vanitas

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SAM_0204 (3)name: Jason / age: 29 / profession: writer, invigilator, work from home, artist / location: london / weekday: monday / reference: following a shower before preparing for work. was i presentable? the mirror had be cleaned the previous day and i did not want to leave smudge marks. but there was no time to wait, there never is. so i lightly pressed a scrunched up towel onto its canvas of condensation.

shopping for healthy food

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shopping for healthy foodname: jenny / age: 37 / profession: art worker / location: miami beach / weekday: saturday / reference: Our neighborhood is going trough an accelerated gentrification process, the local supermarket offers all kinds of expensive organic fresh foods for it’s new inhabitants.

Join the home cleaning army!

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name: arturo / age: 53 / profession: artist and contemporary art researcher / location: Bilbao / reference: My dear roommate Jan took this pic while I was cleaning the bathroom. I a wearing my own sculpture art

I need

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photo (6)name: femke / age: 30 / profession: designer / location: Amsterdam / weekday: monday / reference: i don’t know who you are but your words made me stop. i hope you’ll find what you need.

laundry

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name: esmee / age: 26 / profession: artist / student / location: amsterdam / weekday: thursday / reference: somehow i have more party and holiday pictures than domestic work pictures in my albums.

oz

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name: tessa / age: 30 / profession: visual artist / location: berlin / weekday: wednesday / reference: uranium concentrate (aka. yellow cake) is being raked and dried in a factory. The yellow color gets lost during the refining process.

Gate 3 Art project

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name: Iris / age: 43 / profession: Artist / location: haifa / reference: in response to the lack of independent art spaces in haifa, for a while, this self-organised initiative supported the local art scene.

rotting walls

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name: lucía / age: 35 / profession: artist / location: barcelona / weekday: thursday / reference: Storm. leaks and moisture. even water drops where they shouldn’t be, the owner shirks any repair. four layers of paint have been completely useless.

happy face

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name: Marissa / age: 41 / profession: domestic worker / coordinator / location: london / weekday: Thursday / reference: I normally cook the beans mixed with any other vegetable as soup base for her pasta dinner ready to serve with grilled/oven fresh steak, chicken fillet or fish fillet. when becky is back from school the moment we enter the house she will say, “I’m Hungry!” so I make sure I have ready food to serve because I know she is starving hungry beautiful creature. domestic work is invisible and ignored – indeed the better they are at their work the more invisible it is. Domestic work is support work, unnoticed if it is done well, but noticed if it isn’t done. Justice for domestic workers (j4dw) in making domestic work visible in british society.

toys

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name: Michiel / age: 21 / profession: student/illustrator / location: antwerp belgium / reference: dolls working in the kitchen

in charge

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IMG_0023name: info / age: ∞ / profession: unknown / location: berkeley / weekday: wednesday / reference: free reign, open ended, do what you want, take over.

my day bedroom

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name: Realizza / age: 25 / profession: domestic worker & visual artist / location: london / weekday: monday / reference: this is just one piece of revelations of being a domestic worker. my room is a room of work. i wake up with with laundries and sleep with them at the end of the day.

Billboard Performance – performing masculinity

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francescatamse-billboardperformance16-9name: francesca / age: 26 / profession: artist / location: london / weekday: monday / reference: a handsome worker fails to construct the billboard image effectively. it takes him over an hour to compose the advert of his face and body represented, effectively showing his presence as a body rather than in this labour. this performance was made on 24th June 2016 with a public audience in London for the RCa degree show.

feeding birds

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name: Luciana / age: 35 / profession: photographer / location: Amsterdam / weekday: monday / reference: One of my passions are birds. If I had to choose other form of existence I would rather be a bird. I love to watch the birds. The winter came and I feel worried about them how difficult is to get food. I feed birds every day.

good morning!

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name: Agne / age: 24 / profession: artist / location: amsterdam / weekday: sunday / reference: my aunt wakes up every morning at 4:30 Am to feed the pigs in her farm. While her husband will probably get up around 9 to do “manly” works.

Laundry

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name: Stas / age: 30 / profession: graphic designer / location: Prague / weekday: friday / reference: The frequency of reports increased during the early 20th century, when Westerners began making determined attempts to scale the many mountains in the area and occasionally reported seeing odd creatures or strange tracks.

heating

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name: maiko / age: 33 / profession: curator / location: amsterdam / weekday: thursday / reference: my friend’s place in berlin. finally got the fire burning after using the cardboard from the box that the logs came in, as tinder.

stranded hunk

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name: michiel / age: 21 / profession: student/illustrator / location: antwerp belgium / reference: This is a cardboard commercial for beer of a muscled guy. He was left behind by the previous owner of my appartment but yet i took him in. He is standing between the garbage but i think im gonna keep him… He is cute.

working on land!

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name: valery / age: do not remember / profession: photographer / location: St. Petersburg / weekday: wednesday / reference: Working at my mother’s garden. This is some kind anti melancholy pill for me – working on land!

The house museum is a western concept

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name: andrea / age: 32 / profession: writer & part time bookseller / location: this time shanghai / weekday: saturday / reference: ladislau Hudec was shanghai’s most important art deco architect.  In China i slipped in his house, opened drawers, looked through the dusty windows and took this picture. next to its door, there is a plaque: “Residence of Hudec. Designed by ladislau hudec. built in 1930. masonry structure. english country house style”. according to my guide, now it’s a museum.

wanted the unwanted

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name: marissa
age: 41
profession: domestic worker / coordinator
location: london
weekday: monday
reference: Tate modern has introduced to justice for domestic workers (j4DW) the wonders of unwanted things that arts doesn’t have to be expensive or out of nothing there is actually something valuable that often ignored during our workshop and visit around Tate. Since then, it stayed in my mind that before throwing things to the bin and recycle made me think of what other things I could do. I have now loads of ARTS collections for our own exhibit in Tate modern perhaps in early 2013 with theme ‘making domestic work visible in british society’.

Picture Work

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art wallsname: stephen / age: 61 / profession: curator & artist / location: de pere, wisconsin / weekday: once a month / reference: much like cleaning can really change the atmosphere in a positive way, I’ve also found that frequently changing the art on the walls of my home has a very invigorating effect. this might require making new art, getting your friends to loan you some, checking out thrift stores or buying art within your budget on the web. buy some of those cheap pop-out frames and you can easily exchange printed matter works with little hassle (i use photo-corners to temporarily hold the works in place). experiment with different ways of hanging the works—salon style works well in both a large or small living space. its easy to get stuck with the same old stuff on the walls—change it and you’ll see & feel the difference!

The corner of my room

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name: yixiang / age: 20 / profession: student / location: London / reference: I am a student who lives in London by myself. I have the habit of accumulating a lot of laundry and doing it all at once because I can’t afford to spend time washing clothes every day. When I am at my parents home, my mother does the laundry for the whole family every day.

Euro Vision (visions of europe)

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DW1_XV9A6923-771x1024name: jesper / profession: artist / location: stockholm / weekday: saturday / reference: me working at home (unpaid) with the images from Euro Vision (visions of europe) song contest on domestic work. the polish contribution.

raise

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name: Realizza / age: 25 / profession: domestic worker & visual artist / location: london / weekday: sunday / reference: domestic workers played a big role in mouldin children in the UK. Photo taken by me at the rainbow park, southbank, London.

food journey 2

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name: Ernst / age: 21 / profession: artist / location: Amsterdam / day: Tuesday / reference: grandma’s on their way to the supermarket. this daily routine is keeping their lifes busy.

moving

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name: adam / age: 30 / profession: landscape architect / location: hong kong / weekday: friday / reference: cultural workers move/migrate for residencies, exhibitions, appointments, teaching, internships, etc.

97 HOUSE MAIDS

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name: daniela / age: 30 / profession: artist / location: barcelona / weekday: monday / reference: 97 selected photographs showing groups of Peruvian high class people in daily domestic situations. In the background of each image one can see either a figure or a deletion of a domestic worker. All images have been collected from the social network site Facebook. Project by Daniela Ortiz.

electricity breakdown

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name: Aitziber / age: 27 / profession: cultural worker & filmmaker / location: barcelona / weekday: monday / reference: october 21st: electric breakdown for 2 days at my apartment in Barcelona. 45 square meters attic in the old part of the city for 441€/month, half of my wage including the expenses. The electricity was never renewed and i thought the breakdown was due to its age. i was afraid of calling Fecsa -the electric company- since they have no record of the existence of this electric system at this address and i´ve never paid any bill. julio, the owner of the bar downstairs came to have a look at it and also youness, a friend. i thought i´d have to pay for a new installation in order to fix it and have light again. 2 days later, pablo, the neighbor from the 1st floor knocked my door to ask me if i had light. we called the real state emergency telephone and surprisingly a man came two hours later to fix the electric box at the entrance of the building. he said that the electric system was too old and could burn at any moment. this was the last of many problems that the apartment had given me, so i decided to leave 10 days later. I’ve also migrated to the Netherlands.

Vanity

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name: Pierre-Henri / profession: Chargé de mission au cabinet du Maire du 3e arrondissement de Paris / location: paris / weekday: saturday / reference: Vanité

New work

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name: Sarah / age: 23 / profession: Student / location: Amsterdam / weekday: Friday / reference: My friend works for 2 days at the office and 3 days at home. Often when he works at home he sits slumped on the couch, and sometimes he only wears his bathrobe. They call this “new work”.

la culture

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name: maría / age: 43 / profession: artist, researcher, teacher / location: barcelona / weekday: sunday / reference: still from ‘tiempo real’ (2003) by maría ruido, 43 min.

purim in jerusalem

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name: Ella / age: 35 / profession: artist / location: jerusalem / reference: Purim in 2019, my kids wore their ninja masks for three days 
straight

frames and bears

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name: Realizza / age: 25 / profession: domestic worker & visual artist / location: london / weekday: saturday / reference: “bears are kept and memories are framed” as we leave our own children and our own country in exchange  of money and job and a greener pasture, we missed the so many moments we supposed to share with them and that is the high cost of migration.

the tree of life

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name: Realizza / age: 25 / profession: domestic worker & visual artist / location: london/ weekday: sunday / reference: The tree of life. an acrylic painting done by the members of Justice for domestic workers in uk. It is a representation of our struggles and sorrows as individuals in our own land and as migrants in foreign countries who seek for a greener pasture, better living and better future. some succeeded but many failed. we found ourselves in the comfort of our fellow domestic workers. and as one, we fight against exploitation and  human degradation. slavery and isolation. regardless of age, gender and race. we are one vision.

domestic worker visa

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name: Marissa / age: 41 / profession: domestic worker & coordinator / location: london / weekday: saturday / reference: Domestic worker visa is the life of migrant domestic workers. without rights and protection the more abuse, exploitation and trafficking. Domestic worker visa is the prevention of trafficking, it is a medicine that cures that disease. Justice for domestic workers (j4dw) fights back to restore domestic worker visa with rights.