Oeuvres 1 à 7 sur 7 correspondant à Texte libre.
Oeuvres 1 à 7 sur 7 correspondant à Texte libre.
Farmers enjoying tea at a local teahouse EFEO_ELUM00001
Titre :
Farmers enjoying tea at a local teahouse
Description de la représentation :
The dual citizenship and property system in China has forged the collective rural identity. Having a rural hukou provides some benefits, especially concerning rural land rights. However, this rural, or farmer’s, identity constitutes a barrier for many migrant workers who have been living in urban areas, some for decades. In many places, the hukou has been relaxed, but in large cities like Beijing or Shanghai restrictions are still in place. There is little doubt that the lack of a local resident permit presents an obstacle for integration and identification with the host city. Migrant workers continue to have a preference for marrying their peers from the country. Very often, one can hear them making plans to go back to their hometowns after they retired. But, what seems more peculiar to an outsider is to learn that many still call or consider themselves farmers. According to the (English) dictionary, a farmer is a person who owns or manages a farm, or cultivates land. However, in China it has a very different meaning: it is a social class. It refers equally to those who engage in the farming industry and those who work in the city but possess a rural residence permit. Actually, the (usual) Chinese name for migrant workers does not contain the word “migrant” but “farmer” (nongmin-gong – 农民工). In fact, it also includes the fellows who joyfully sip at their tea in the photo, but whose industry is alien to the writer.
Lieux de prise de vue :
Asie, Asie orientale, Chine, Chongqing (municipalité autonome), Yongchuan district (永川区)
Quand :
Novembre, 2013
Photographe :
Miguel Eluosa
Qui :
Miguel Eluosa
N° d'inventaire :
EFEO_ELUM00001
A 104 year-old woman playing pai gow (paijiu – 牌九) with h...
Titre :
A 104 year-old woman playing pai gow (paijiu – 牌九) with her friends
Description de la représentation :
Living standards in the Chinese countryside are improving steadily. The elderly are granted pensions (yanglao baoxian − 养老保险), provided there are no children to take care of them (zinü fuyang – 子女抚养). The monthly allocation is meagre, between 80 to 90 yuan per month, depending on the age of the beneficiary. In the province of Guangdong many villagers have been able to benefit from the economic development by an urbanisation model that is unique in many respects. By converting collectives into property companies that develop industrial zones (and residential property), farmers are able to generate profits and receive dividends in return. These ladies enjoy now a placid life and may spend more than three hours a day chatting and playing this game.
Lieux de prise de vue :
Asie, Asie orientale, Chine, Guangdong (province), Kaiping
Quand :
Mai, 2013
Photographe :
Miguel Eluosa
Qui :
Miguel Eluosa
N° d'inventaire :
EFEO_ELUM00002
Mahjong (majiang － 麻将) parlor in a building about to be d...
Titre :
Mahjong (majiang － 麻将) parlor in a building about to be demolished in Chongqing
Description de la représentation :
The mahjong game is a favourite pastime in China. It often becomes an addiction. It is in Chongqing and Sichuan that mahjong rooms are ubiquitous (in Chongqing, they are frequently referred to as teahouses or chaguan － 茶馆, although nowadays the rooms are often fully dedicated to majiang tables). Mahjong parlors are run like a casino: every player needs to pay an entrance fee in order to take a seat and start playing. Once they start playing they can easily stay for more than four hours at the mahjong table. Many don’t have a formal job and play mahjong to earn extra money. However, it’s not rare to hear about players losing more than 20 thousand yuan in just one day.
Lieux de prise de vue :
Asie, Asie orientale, Chine, Chongqing (municipalité autonome)
Quand :
Novembre, 2013
Photographe :
Miguel Eluosa
Qui :
Miguel Eluosa
N° d'inventaire :
EFEO_ELUM00003
Another neighbourhood about to vanish EFEO_ELUM00004
Titre :
Another neighbourhood about to vanish
Description de la représentation :
This photo was taken near the ancient town of Ciqikou (磁器口), in Chongqing. The local government plans to tear the whole neighbourhood down and rebuild it with new “old buildings” at its core. The new “old street” will become a commercial area and numerous apartment buildings will be built around it. Some residents have already left apartments vacant, while others still remain in their homes wishing to better their compensation package. The gentrification of the neighbourhood is guaranteed since high prices will force most, if not all, former residents to move out of the community.
Lieux de prise de vue :
Asie, Asie orientale, Chine, Chongqing (municipalité autonome), Ciqikou (磁器口)
Quand :
Avril, 2013
Photographe :
Miguel Eluosa
Qui :
Miguel Eluosa
N° d'inventaire :
EFEO_ELUM00004
Opera at the park EFEO_ELUM00007
Titre :
Opera at the park
Description de la représentation :
A former factory worker and amateur Peking opera performer, playing the role of the virtuous lady, or zhengdan (正旦), in Qianling park (黔灵公园), Guiyang. After the massive layoffs from State Owned Enterprises of the 1990s, millions of workers lost their job. Although for the most part they could stay in their homes (the factories were closed down but danwei lodgings were usually handed over to its occupants at a subsidized price), and were provided with a pension when they reached the threshold age, the speed of economic development and inflation has forced many to look for alternative ways to make money. Former factory workers often compare their economic circumstances with those of farmers, and tend to consider them as marginally better off. After all, farmers did not get aid from the State in the form of pensions or the subsistence allowance. (Note: the situation in the countryside has improved now, as described in previous photo captions.) Nor they did benefit from the creation of a real estate market that allowed them to exploit the increased value of their properties either. In the background, other comrades watch the performance waiting for their turn. In particular, a breeze of nostalgia is brought about by the lady dressed in a Red Guard uniform, who is about to start performing the role of a revolutionary soldier in one of the model operas engineered by Mao’s last wife Jiang Qing (江青) during the Cultural Revolution. Music comes from the speakers, played from a computer. During the performance, the singer carries a pannier where the audience can give some reward. It’s not rare to see young people and children among the audience. Appreciation for the traditional (and revolutionary) opera might not be fading away with modernity after all.
Lieux de prise de vue :
Asie, Asie orientale, Chine, Guizhou (province), Guiyang, Qianling park (黔灵公园)
Quand :
Décembre, 2013
Photographe :
Miguel Eluosa
Qui :
Miguel Eluosa
N° d'inventaire :
EFEO_ELUM00007
Popcorn EFEO_ELUM00008
Titre :
Popcorn
Description de la représentation :
An explosion provoked by the opening of a Chinese kernel popper. This device made of cast-iron is powered by coal and swivelled by hand. According to Wikipedia, in the process of popcorn making “the maize expands from the kernel and puffs up when heated. Popcorn is able to pop because its kernels have a hard moisture-sealed hull and a dense starchy interior. Pressure builds inside the kernel, and a small explosion (or “pop”) is the end result.” In the case of the Chinese popcorn-maker, all of the popcorn explodes at once when the cover of the canister in which the corn is heated is opened and a sudden depressurisation takes place, making the kernel swell, puffing as a result. The whole process takes about eight to ten minutes to complete. Popcorn poppers like the one in the photo are a common sight in the streets of many cities in China. The object captivates the passer-by, as it brings to mind a device from another era.
Lieux de prise de vue :
Asie, Asie orientale, Chine, Guizhou (province), Guanling county (关岭县)
Quand :
Décembre, 2013
Photographe :
Miguel Eluosa
Qui :
Miguel Eluosa
N° d'inventaire :
EFEO_ELUM00008
Nomads EFEO_ELUM00011
Titre :
Nomads
Description de la représentation :
This photo was taken near Lake Heihu, Altai, in the North of Xinjiang, near the border with Russia, Mongolia and Kazakhstan. It is the only Kazakh autonomous prefecture in China. Most kazakhs living in the region are natural born nomads. Traditionally, they would move with each season, but today their lifestyle is suffering a substantial transformation, perhaps at its most threatened. The Chinese government is determined to push on with sedentarisation policies. Land degradation is often cited as the main reason for sedentarising nomads, and numerous Chinese scholars support these policies. Attempts to sedentarise nomads are intrinsic to Central and East Asian history, which has always been characterised by a fight between nomads and farmers. China and Russia have both tried several times to do away with nomadic riders. For over a thousand years horses were an advantage in warfare and nomads bred the best. Therefore, they represented a threat and, at the same time, an appealing booty. In the 1890s, Russia attempted to transform nomads in reliable taxpayers by encouraging their settlement. It did so by fostering a massive colonisation of farmers. Thus, people from different regions occupied the Central Asian pasturelands. It is estimated that between 1896 and 1916, more than one million colonist took over one-fifth of the land. By 1912, Turkestan produced 64% of Russian cotton. These policies would later be reinforced by the Soviet Union, and Central Asia became a mostly one-crop economy. ((Peter B. Golden (2011) Central Asia in World History. Oxford University Press.)). In China, grasslands cover more than 40% of the country, which represents four times the area of its forests and three times its total arable land. In contrast to agricultural land, grassland is state-owned unless a collective title can be legally proven. ((PRC Constitution, Article 9.)) This situation has stirred up conflict between local governments and collectives since there seems to be no legal mechanism available to prove property as pasturelands have traditionally been used according to customary tenure. ((Peter Ho (2005) Institutions in Transition: Land Ownership, Property Rights and Social Conflict in China, Oxford University Press.)) Likewise, although the House Responsibility System was successfully implemented in agricultural lands, it brought about many changes to the nomadic lifestyle since nomads’ access to vast expanses of land was restricted as a result. This has in turn led to overgrazing in some cases due to the small size of land available for pasture for each family unit. ((Ostrom, E.J. (1999) Revisiting the Commons: Local Lessons, Global Challenges. Science Vol. 284, Nº5412.)). Herders often are deprived of grazing lands due to land reclamation for commercial or farming use. The quest for resources and the consequent mining boom has been another common cause of expropriation in Inner Mongolia (coal production rose almost 50% in 2010). And courts are often reluctant to hear cases related to the inappropriate use of grasslands. ((South China Morning Post, Mongolians “sidelined” in mining growth, 1 juin 2011.)) The term semi-nomadic would be therefore more appropriate to define these nomadic groups. They usually just alternate between a winter home and a summer tent. During winter, children attend school. Education is an important part of the resettlement program. According to a report on the resettlement of Kham Tibetans written by Kieran Dodds for the South China Morning Post, ((Promised land. SCMP. 6 January, 2013.)) resettlement is producing an educated but rurally ignorant generation. “Education will ruin our culture”, laments a Tibetan teacher interviewed by Dodds, when describing how compulsory education is driving the resettlement of nomads. As discussed with Norha’s Tibetan entrepreneurs, the problem is that authorities give economic allowances, build houses, but don’t provide job opportunities that may constitute an alternative to herding. Thus, sedentarisation policies often lead to alcoholism and more criminality as recipients of allowances become idle, having given up what they do best. No one is immune to the homogenisation of lifestyles taking shape in the world, not even the traditionally most resilient tribes of the northern steppes.
Lieux de prise de vue :
Asie, Asie orientale, Chine, Xinjiang (Région autonome ouïghoure), Altai, Lake Heihu
Quand :
Octobre, 2011
Photographe :
Miguel Eluosa
Qui :
Miguel Eluosa
N° d'inventaire :
EFEO_ELUM00011
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