By Mie Cornoedus

November 29-December 19, 2011

Opening November 29, 2011 at 7.30pm

with DEE JAY PUTRA KELANA ELECTRIC BOY

 

A work in progress in collaboration with men that crossed her path in Tanzania, India and Indonesia.

Drawings, photography and text.

How do brothers feel about their sisters? Do brothers use the same values to measure their sisters as they apply to other women? Or, do brothers expect sisters to defend a culture’s ideal feminine values? Will a brother talk about his sister openly; will he reveal her weaknesses as freely as her strengths, or is his representation of her his window into the pride and honor of his family and himself? And, how does this differ culturally? What does a brother’s representation of his sister tell us about his society and culture?

These questions motivated Mie to search for brothers in three countries: India, Tanzania and Indonesia, to ask them about the key attributes of their sisters. She asked them to make a drawing of their sister, and then she photographed the men.

Not surprisingly, all brothers have strong feelings about their sisters whether these are feelings of love, admiration, pride or disappointment. Each brother values different aspects of his sister, her beauty, and the affection she shows for her family, her singing voice, her shyness or her demeanor with cows. Alone, one by one, these are stories of individual men and their sisters; however, put together they begin to depict the larger mosaic of location specific culture, while at the same time they show something shared by humans everywhere.  

Mie will continue to collect the stories of brothers wherever she goes. During this exhibition she also asks brothers in the audience to participate.