Of Umbrellas & Votes
In this installation I approach the 19th Amendment & the 100th anniversary of Women’s right to vote through the lens of the more contemporary Hong Kong’s Umbrella. Both were/are suffrage movements: 100yrs ago the suffrage movement resulted in giving white women the right to vote (Asian Americans could not vote until 1952. Native Americans & African Americans were affectively not able to vote until 1965 with the passage of the Voting Rights Act, which removed the discriminatory barriers that kept people of color from voting.). Starting in 2014, the people of Hong Kong began to organize and gather, seeking democracy. 2016 the “Umbrella Movement” took place, so named for the protestors carrying umbrella to block the pepper spray and tear gas used by the police to disperse the protestors. The demonstrations for democracy in Hong Kong continue today, with violence perpetrated by the police and Chinese government continuing.
I bring these two “events” together, across the years, to challenge the viewer to think about the racial aspects of the original 19th Amendment, and the reasons why women of color were excluded, especially when they were very much involved in the suffrage movement. I also seek to draw the very relevant connections between our country’s history and the histories and present events taking place in other countries around the world. What was that quote? “nobody’s free until everybody’s free.” (civil rights leader Fannie Lou Hamer). Or, in the words of Martin Luther King, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality.”
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Description: 2 figures, one standing made of white umbrellas, one laying on the floor made of black umbrellas, both w/ a suffragette sash
Dimensions: 10ft x 8ft x 6.5ft (variable)
Material: umbrellas, lace, muslin, ribbon
I bring these two “events” together, across the years, to challenge the viewer to think about the racial aspects of the original 19th Amendment, and the reasons why women of color were excluded, especially when they were very much involved in the suffrage movement. I also seek to draw the very relevant connections between our country’s history and the histories and present events taking place in other countries around the world. What was that quote? “nobody’s free until everybody’s free.” (civil rights leader Fannie Lou Hamer). Or, in the words of Martin Luther King, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality.”
...............................................................................................................................................................
Description: 2 figures, one standing made of white umbrellas, one laying on the floor made of black umbrellas, both w/ a suffragette sash
Dimensions: 10ft x 8ft x 6.5ft (variable)
Material: umbrellas, lace, muslin, ribbon
