Special Exhibitions

Not Just Labor Migrant Photo Voices from Thailand’s Fisheries

Organized by: SEA Junction
Selected by: Special project’s BACC pop⋅up
Principal Supporter: Seacon Development Co., Ltd.
Media Partner: GroundControl, Bangkok Art City
Opening ceremony: 
Additional activities: –

Globally, trade in fish products continues to reach record highs, and developing countries now contribute over half of the value of total exports. Within this expanding world market, Thailand has emerged as a major supplier, with the value of its seafood exports reaching US$6 billion in recent years. A significant contribution to the industry’s growth is given by the migrant labor force. Shortages of Thai workers willing to work on fishing vessels, emerging simultaneously with expanding structural differences in population demographics and economic development between Thailand and its neighboring countries, have transformed fishing crews to predominantly consist of migrant workers from Cambodia and Myanmar. Several hundred thousand women and men migrant workers are now employed at different levels within the seafood supply chain in Thailand, working precariously under various temporary labor migration regimes and constrained living and work conditions.

Recognizing the contribution of migrant workers to Thai’s society and the blue economy, the exhibition “Not Just Labor; Migrant Photo Voices from Thailand Fisheries” gives them a platform to showcase their photo voices. The display consists of photos taken on their mobile phone by migrants from Cambodia and Myanmar, who are now living in Phuket, Phang Nga and Chanthaburi to work in the fishing and seafood industry. 

The displayed photo-stories capture the migrant’s overall day-to-day existence full of taxing, entertaining or simply mundane events, of interaction with their natural and social surroundings, and of dreams and expectations about the future. The message the photo voices (and the exhibition’s title) convey, is that migrants are more than just labor and more than the sum of the difficulties and exploitation endured. Against the dehumanized portrayal of migrants as faceless ‘others’, this exhibition celebrates their identity, agency, personality and other features of our shared humanity. Moreover, the exhibition shows that migrant lives have become interconnected with the larger Thai society demanding more suitable integration policies for migrants. This comprehensive appreciation of migrants’ experiences and aspirations, is essential to create an inclusive and more equitable society that upholds everyone’s human dignity.

Curators: Sayan Chuenudomsavad, Rosalia Sciortino and Chawin Chantalikit

Organisers:

The exhibition is organised and curated by SEA Junction in collaboration with BACC Pop-Up and the Human Development and Rights Foundation (HDRF) with support of the International Labour Organization (ILO)’s Ship to Shore Rights South East Asia initiative funded by the European Union. First exhibited last May at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC), it was later moved in August to the United Nations Conference Centre as part of the 12th University Scholars Leadership Symposium organised by UNESCAP and is now at Seacon Square. SEA Junction, a Thai foundation located at Room 407-8 of the BACC, aims to foster understanding and appreciation of Southeast Asia in all its socio-cultural dimensions, from arts and lifestyles to economy and development. (Bangkok Art and Culture Center (BACC) located at: 939 Rama 1 Rd, Wang Mai, Pathum Wan, Bangkok 10330 email: [email protected])