“Voices of Hakka Women” by Suzon Fuks, Ya-Ling Peng, Jenny Martinelli, Anna Yen

Title:

Voices of Hakka Women

Artist(s) and People Involved:

Filmmaker, Video Artist, or Animator(s):



• Suzon Fuks -
  • Waterwheel
• Ya-Ling Peng
• Jenny Martinelli
• Anna Yen

Symposium:

• ISEA2024: 29th International Symposium on Electronic Art

Venue(s):

• Queensland Multicultural Centre, Brisbane, Australia

Artist Statement:

VOICES OF HAKKA WOMEN is an evocative video poem by Ya-Ling Peng (Taiwan) and Suzon Fuks (Australia), featuring the original poetry of 6 Taiwanese-Hakka women. Award Winner of the Moondance International Film Festival, Finalist of Her Vision Film Festival, Toronto’s Asian Feedback Film Festival, Women’s International Film Festival and Special Mention from Asia South East Short Film Festival.

Layered with imagery shot in Taiwan, it evokes the not-so-old custom of giving away daughters, adopted by other families and often used for hard house and farm work. It is dedicated to women and girls fighting for fairness and justice.

The video is a vehicle for disseminating Hakka oral language and cultural heritage internationally through the artistic interpretation of these poems. It has been produced in 5 versions, each with a second spoken language accompanying the spoken Hakka: Hakka-English, Hakka-French, Hakka-Portuguese, Hakka-Spanish and Hakka-Mandarin. The unique traditions and universal themes expressed in Hakka are also voiced by actresses from around the world (Taiwan, Australia, Brazil, Chile, France, Mexico, Spain and USA).

For ISEA 2024, we propose the Hakka-English version that is voiced by actresses from Australia and the USA.

It has been 50 years since the abolition of this ‘adopted daughters’ tradition, and there were centuries before that that the Hakka people have experienced segregation and persecution as a minority. As a result, they migrated from the north to the south of China. About a hundred years ago they moved into Taiwan and then around the world. The original meaning of the name Hakka means ‘guest’, indicating the distinction made between them and local Han majorities in China.

This video, and the larger project it stems from, is a tribute to the resilience of the Taiwanese Hakka community and in particular the women of that community. Ya-Ling Peng’s Uhan Shii Theatre has been working for decades on a truth-telling process, theatricalising the group’s participants’ personal stories, and performing in the minority Hakka oral language throughout rural villages of Taiwan. These days the women of Uhan Shii Theatre are turning their creative expression into poetry.

VOICES OF HAKKA WOMEN is an Award Winner of the Moondance International Film Festival, was selected for Her Vision Film Festival, Toronto’s Asian Feedback Film Festival, and Women’s International Film Festival, and received a Special Mention from Asia South East Short Film Festival, London.