Rations Given to the Chinamen. Chinese Porcelain set with Gold enamel lettering, 2008. Bienal de Artes Visuales Centroamericana (BAVIC), Tegucigalpa, Honduras, 2008.
The piece Rations Given to the Chinamen (Camp.4) is generated from the same investigation process that I carried out in the National Archive of Costa Rica about Chinese migration to Costa Rica which was also captured in Vagón Rojo (Fe al P, FIA 2004) and in No. 1674, sección administrativa, versión 2. This piece uses a document of a less official character but just as relevant: a registry of food rations that were given to the Chinese workers in a working camp of the railroad, in this case Camp number 4. Everyday rations of different types of food were handed to them which consisted of salt, bread, tea, beef, rice and very sporadically beans, registering the quantity (in pounds, packages or loafs). This registry was made by hand and in English, language of the Keith brothers who where the railroad contractors. The title of the piece: Rations Given to the Chinamen (Camp. 4) is given by the handwritten title that the notepad with the rations reads on its cover.
For the work I transcribed by hand rations of this document to the pieces of a white china set for 6 with gold glaze. The white china is the simplest most basic type with no details, generally used daily by low income Chinese families. The intervention decorates them with the rations written in the precious metal, symbol of abundance, luxury and prosperity.
