18th September 2009 to 21 November 2009
EXHIBITION: Nations, Factory and Workforce
This autumn Iniva presents a triple bill of exhibits concerned with the garment industry at Rivington Place near Old Street in London.
Indian artist NS Harsha’s installation Nations, will be showing for the first time in Europe. 192 treadle sewing machines are overlaid with calico painted flags and connected by a web of threads. The artist’s witty take on globalisation, market forces and labour outsourcing reflects his sensitivity to humanitarian issues. He combines details of cultural traditions in India with subjects in the news to reflect the shifting world.
Film maker Chen Chieh-jen focuses on textile workers who have returned to an abandoned factory in Taiwan. It was closed down as cheaper labour markets sprung up elsewhere. Shots of the women textile workers moving around the derelict building are mixed with images of their protests, alongside footage from the 1960s when Taiwan’s manufacturing industry was booming.
Artist Shiraz Bayjoo employs the public and transforms the Education Space into a temporary artist-run factory in response to the NS Harsha and Chen Chieh-jen exhibitions. He creates a new workforce to manufacture a communal flag which fills the gallery space. To join Bayjoo’s workforce - stitching, sewing and conversing, drop in on Thursday evenings between 6-8pm or Saturdays 2-5pm. If you would like to sign up as a group contact tledda_at_iniva.org (replace_at_with@) or call 020 7749 1254 in advance.
For more information about the exhibition and gallery go to the Rivington Place website.
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