Colette Fu: A Day in the Terraced Rice Fields
Drawing inspiration from A Day in the Zoo, a reproduction of a Victorian pop-up book published between 1890 and 1900, artist Colette Fu has created a site-specific installation for the Berman Museum entitled A Day in the Terraced Rice Fields, a human-scaled pop-up book highlighting the Red Yao women of Huangluo Village in Guangxi Province, China.
Huangluo is located approximately one kilometer south of Longji, known for its 鈥淒ragon鈥檚 Backbone鈥� terraced rice fields. The Red Yao women cut their hair only once in their lives as part of a coming-of-age ceremony when they reach marriageable age. Once the hair is cut, it is added as an extension to their natural hair, which can grow up to seven feet long. Since grooms are meant to be the first to see their future wives鈥� uncovered hair, unmarried women wrap their heads in black cloth. Women鈥檚 hair is believed to embody their spirits, and long hair is thought to bring longevity, wealth, and good fortune.
Fu visited the Longji rice terraces in 2014. For a small fee, women will take down their hair and pose for photos with tourists. While tourism helps support the village, it has also led to compromises in their cultural traditions. Across China, Fu observed minority groups on display, such as at the Minority Park in Yunnan Province, where young men and women from various villages live on public view.
A Day in the Zoo references human zoos, or so-called ethnological expositions of the 19th and 20th centuries from the Paris Colonial Exposition, St. Louis World鈥檚 Fair, The Igorot Village, Bronx Zoo, and the Brussels World鈥檚 Fair. A Day in the Terraced Rice Fields, measuring about 600% the size of the original A Day in the Zoo book (9x12 inches), brings fresh perspective to concepts of exploitative tourism, cultural preservation, and the economic impact of globalization on rural communities in China.
Drawing inspiration from A Day in the Zoo, a reproduction of a Victorian pop-up book published between 1890 and 1900, artist Colette Fu has created a site-specific installation for the Berman Museum entitled A Day in the Terraced Rice Fields, a human-scaled pop-up book highlighting the Red Yao women of Huangluo Village in Guangxi Province, China.
Huangluo is located approximately one kilometer south of Longji, known for its 鈥淒ragon鈥檚 Backbone鈥� terraced rice fields. The Red Yao women cut their hair only once in their lives as part of a coming-of-age ceremony when they reach marriageable age. Once the hair is cut, it is added as an extension to their natural hair, which can grow up to seven feet long. Since grooms are meant to be the first to see their future wives鈥� uncovered hair, unmarried women wrap their heads in black cloth. Women鈥檚 hair is believed to embody their spirits, and long hair is thought to bring longevity, wealth, and good fortune.
Fu visited the Longji rice terraces in 2014. For a small fee, women will take down their hair and pose for photos with tourists. While tourism helps support the village, it has also led to compromises in their cultural traditions. Across China, Fu observed minority groups on display, such as at the Minority Park in Yunnan Province, where young men and women from various villages live on public view.
A Day in the Zoo references human zoos, or so-called ethnological expositions of the 19th and 20th centuries from the Paris Colonial Exposition, St. Louis World鈥檚 Fair, The Igorot Village, Bronx Zoo, and the Brussels World鈥檚 Fair. A Day in the Terraced Rice Fields, measuring about 600% the size of the original A Day in the Zoo book (9x12 inches), brings fresh perspective to concepts of exploitative tourism, cultural preservation, and the economic impact of globalization on rural communities in China.
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