Performance – 2019
1 hr 30 minutes approximately
The title is a tangential reference to a poem by Rudyard Kipling, that was published in 1899 to urge the white people to support America in colonizing Philippines. The poem uses derogatory phrases for the people of Philippines, such as; sullen people, half devil and half child etc. and uphold white supremacy.
Colonization was essentially about taking over the resources of the colonized lands. When the colonizers finally relieved the control of the colonies – in most case after hundreds of years of exploitation – the countries, where the resources were exported to, tightened their borders.
Today, for a third world person to travel to the first world is not an easy task, thanks to the politics of economics that ensures a steep value difference among currencies and the travel control and checks like visas etc. If a third world person somehow manages to hoodwink the challenges and reache a first world country, having crossed death a hundred times on the way, he / she is essentially labeled an ‘illegal migrant’ – surely not the friendliest of the terms.
Meanwhile, another set of migrants – the resources of the third world countries – are allowed to slip in easily, even when the people whose land and sweat produces them, continue to starve.
Performed at:
– Food Futures Art – Kunsthalle Faust, Hannover. July 6, 2019
