Remittance Givers
In
Remittance Givers, 38 disembodied hands spill from a luggage bag, one for every billion dollars sent home. Each hand gestures to offer, beg, or surrender, expressing how the act of giving is tethered to histories of dispossession.
Overseas Filipino workers are often called bagong bayani ("new heroes") because their remittances support their families and help sustain the Philippine economy. In 2024 alone, OFWs sent back 38 billion USD to their families: a record high. While this label honors the sacrifices of OFWs, it also obscures the underlying forces that make their migration inevitable. It risks normalizing the racialized and gendered labor hierarchies and the everyday perils of exploitation that they face. In the process, we lose sight of the deeply unequal global labor systems that create these conditions in the first place.
Overseas Filipino workers are often called bagong bayani ("new heroes") because their remittances support their families and help sustain the Philippine economy. In 2024 alone, OFWs sent back 38 billion USD to their families: a record high. While this label honors the sacrifices of OFWs, it also obscures the underlying forces that make their migration inevitable. It risks normalizing the racialized and gendered labor hierarchies and the everyday perils of exploitation that they face. In the process, we lose sight of the deeply unequal global labor systems that create these conditions in the first place.
Materials: Found luggage, acrylic, handwoven net with indigo dye, and 38 air-dry clay casts of hands
Dimensions: Varies
Date: 2025
Dimensions: Varies
Date: 2025