When Workers Toil Unseen, Artists Intervene: On the In/visibility of Labor in the Arabian Gulf States

Although the insufficient labor standards in the Arabian Gulf countries are hypervisible, laws have not improved to the benefit of workers. In this article, I examine art practices from Gulf-based artists that address this invisibility by replicating the conditions of the laborer in their artworks,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Visual anthropology (Journal) Vol. 32; no. 3-4; pp. 265 - 286
Main Author:	Sindelar, Melanie J.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Abingdon Routledge 08-08-2019 Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects:	Anthropology Artistic representation (Imitation) Artists Labor Labor standards Manual workers Middle Eastern culture Visibility Work environment Workers Gulf Coast states
Online Access:	Get full text
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Summary:	Although the insufficient labor standards in the Arabian Gulf countries are hypervisible, laws have not improved to the benefit of workers. In this article, I examine art practices from Gulf-based artists that address this invisibility by replicating the conditions of the laborer in their artworks, a process I term "total replication." In contrast to the art historian Schaffer's argument that art must subvert hierarchies, I show how artworks that replicate work conditions also have the potential to create appreciatory visibilities. I argue that these artworks contain subversive messages in such a way that they become consumable in the context of the Arabian Gulf's art scene.
ISSN:	0894-9468 1545-5920
DOI:	10.1080/08949468.2019.1637672