Goethe-Institut to focus on migrant domestic workers

THE lives of migrant domestic workers in Hong Kong and South Cyprus and will be the focus of two free events at the Goethe-Institut in the buffer zone next Saturday, February 10, from 6pm to 9pm.

The opening of the Apples for Sale photography exhibition will showcase the work of Berlinbased photographer Rebecca Sampson.

Her photographs show Indonesian maids who work in Hong Kong in “insecure conditions” as “second-class migrants in a parallel female subculture”.

The exhibition will shine a light on the “contrast between the uniform everyday restrictions” they experience while working in the homes of their employers and the “young women’s desire to lead a meaningful existence and explore their own individuality”. The display will remain open on weekdays from 10am to 8pm until March 9.

The other event of the night will be the island premiere of Together Apart, a documentary by anthropologist and filmmaker Maren Wickwire.

The film is described by its makers as an “intimate family portrait” of two Igorot women, a mother and a daughter, who left the Philippines in search of work abroad.

“As the most eastern outpost of the European Union, [South] Cyprus has one of the lowest wages for migrant domestic helpers but still recruits large numbers of workers,” organisers said.

“In this documentary film, a mother and daughter reunite in Cyprus and unexpected events lead to the mother’s departure.”