DAY 58: A Lesson-Learned from a Wound
by Irwan Ahmett & Tita Salina in Ansan, South Korea, 16 July 2017 and Bandar Lampung, Indonesia, 27 August 2017
What wisdom we could take from a work accident that could change our life forever?
Indonesia is one of the biggest contributor for migrant workers in several developed countries such as South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and other surrounding crountries.
The lack of job opportunities in the hometown and the desire to change fate have encouraged the productive age group from rural areas to work abroad. The number of Indonesian migrant workers work around the world could reach 4.3 millions. The limitedness of knowledge and skills have positioned them working on jobs which demand high-risky physical strength, such as on industrial and manufacture sectors or other domestic sectors. The pressure on productivity, the engine failure and human error become the trigger factors that cause accidents. Besides, the certainty of protections to get insurance and medication while they are in and after their return from the foreign country has not yet been facilitated very well. Within this workshop, we try to collect stories and make their experiences as the shared knowledge.
The workshop activity in Ansan City, South Korea we held it during their day off to be able to gather and to introduce among themselves also to mediate the exchange knowledge and information to be more casual and relax.
The activity in Bandar Lampung, Indonesia where they already returned, we try to digest further about the changes they should face also to discuss about how they gain support from those who they are closest and position it as the new strength to encourage them to keep optimist in living their lives.
We are aware that Indonesian people in general have collective bond and memory to art and culture, therefore together with them we create a manifest through a performative gesture as a reminder for their work safety also as a mark for their sacrifice having to work abroad and the important to keep togetherness in dealing with difficult situation, that is a intervening performance titled The Flower Currency (Bunga Mata Uang). The flower which is composed by the wounded hands of migrant workers.
To continue the work safety discourse, proactively we try to synergize with Indonesian migrant workers in Taiwan, Indonesian Embassy in South Korea and to bring up the issue to broader public by showing the performance in art exhibition in Seoul curated by Sunyoung Oh.
