Chats for the Goals: On Sundays, We Play

Join us on the 12th of September for the public reception of the photo exhibit ‘On Sundays, We Play’, a visual urban ethnography documenting the leisure practices of migrant domestic workers in Singapore, and a panel discussion with the project team on how we can build more inclusive and just cities.

Many countries are now reliant on temporary migrant labour which is often sourced from the Global South. Yet despite being central to the growth of wealthy economies, migrant workers are granted little rights in the places in which they live and work.

In the global city of Singapore, migrant domestic workers make up a fifth of the city state’s large foreign workforce.

On Sundays, We Play documents ‘game day’ among hundreds of low-waged migrant domestic workers, mainly women from the Philippines, who gather every Sunday – their only day off from work – to play social volleyball on Old Terminal Lane, a plot of now disused land at the site of Singapore’s first airport. Largely unwelcome in the public spaces of the city, this forgotten space provides these women respite from the quasi-incarceration they experience as live-in ‘maids’ – every Sunday they shed their docile and subservient working selves to emerge as strong, boisterous, and unencumbered bodies.

View the photo exhibit and short ethnographic film and engage in a panel conversation with the project team about migration and cities, social resilience and marginalised migrants, and the transformative potential of informal sport and leisure. The event is also raising funds for this community via a limited edition photobook (published by Gantala Press), which will be available to purchase on the night and proceeds from the book sales will go back to helping the women run their Sunday volleyball leagues.

Event Details:

FREE EVENT (ticket required)
Thursday, September 12, 2024
UTS Tower Building, Level 4 (Foyer Exhibition Space)
University of Technology Sydney, Building 1
1/15 Broadway, Ultimo NSW 2007, Australia

5.00-5.30pm Registration
5.30-6.30pm Chats for the Goals
The program begins with a short film screening of ‘On Sundays, We Play’ followed by a panel discussion with the project team on ‘Migrant Infrastructures of Care, Transformative Leisure, and the Urban Margins’
6.30-7.30pm Refreshments
Enjoy some Filipino snacks as you view the photo exhibit, including hearing Filipina migrant domestic worker poetry from the photobook, recited by members of the UTS Filipino Student Association

Project Team:

• Dr Kristine Aquino is a sociologist researching and writing on global Filipino migration, migration regimes, and migrant urbanisms. She is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Technology Sydney.
  
• Professor Amanda Wise has published widely on ethnographies of everyday multiculturalism and how ‘lived’ diversities shape the urban commons. She is Professor of Sociology at Macquarie University, Sydney.
• A/Professor Selvaraj Velayutham draws on ethnographic research tools to examine race and ethnic relations, multiculturalism, and migrant lives. He is Associate Professor of Sociology at Macquarie University, Sydney.
• James Loganathan is a photographer whose creative practice engages with multicultural communities. His professional work spans commercial sports photography and digital content creation for urban brands.

Panel Facilitator:

• Professor Anna Cristina Pertierra is an anthropologist and cultural studies scholar with international expertise in urban ethnography, consumption and everyday economies, digital media, and popular culture in the Global South. She is Associate Dean Research in the Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building at the University of Technology Sydney.

On Sundays, We Play will be exhibited at the UTS Main Tower Foyer from September 3 to 17 as part of UTS Global Goals Month and National Social Science Week. Register to attend the public reception on September 12. 

This project is funded by the University of Technology Sydney’s Centre for Social Justice and Inclusion (Social Impact Grant) and the Australian Research Council (Discovery Project). ‘On Sundays, We Play’ is delivered in partnership with HOME Singapore, Gantala Press, Migrant Writers of Singapore, and the Kallang migrant domestic worker volleyball community.

On Sundays, We Play was first exhibited on December 2023 at UltraSuperNew Gallery, Singapore, as part of HOME Singapore’s International Migrant’s Day celebrations. Check out the PLURAL Art Magazine, South East Asia review here: On Sundays, We Play: Portraits of community and resilience

GETTING TO THE VENUE:

By public transport: UTS Tower Building is a short 5 minute walk from Central Station

By car: The closest parking stations to UTS Tower Building are

1. Interpark Parking Station, Building 10, 10 Thomas Street, Ultimo (4 minute walk to UTS Tower)

2. Wilson Parking @ Novotel Sydney Central Hotel 169-179 Thomas Street, Sydney (6 minute walk to UTS Tower)

3. Wilson Parking @ Market City Haymarket, 2 Quay Street, Sydney (10 minute walk to UTS Tower)

Event enquiries:

• michael.clayden@student.uts.edu.au
• Michael Clayden
• Community Engagement
  
• On Sundays, We Play