Summer Shimizu

'VOICE III' is a continuous study of people who are born overseas and have been living in New Zealand for decades, as well as New Zealanders born of Asian descent. It aims to gift them a safe space to speak about their diverse perspectives and feelings of living in New Zealand. Specifically, I am interested in their cultural and social perspectives, enabling the clear unpacking of their voices, and highlighting any microaggressions they experience with others, including their friends in their everyday life. A key question my project asks is how we should handle this subtle yet invisible event to promote the fact that microaggression is not okay?

Microaggression: “You must write your essay in English.” “I will tidy up your English.”
Message: You are unintelligible and unintelligent. You are less of a human being.

Microaggression: “Your English is good!”
Message: You make me more relaxed around you. You don’t threaten me.

Microaggression: “Where are you from?”
Message: You don’t belong here. You are not the norm.

Microaggression: “You are so pretty, for an Asian.”
Message: Your features are beautiful and can be sexually objectified. People from Asia are not beautiful.

Participants responded to a student advert. Twenty interviews were conducted and nineteen portrait photographs made. One of the interviewees opted out for personal reasons. All of the participants like New Zealand and have the same national pride that New Zealanders have for the country. However, there are matters to discuss and they would like to help New Zealand to be even better and achieve another ‘world-first’ title.

'VOICE III' gave the participants voice and delivered challenges to my ongoing question of how to encourage Pākehā and Māori people to see what I see: those invisible layers where they do not have those perspectives and experiences. 'VOICE III' asks the viewer to place themselves in the position of international citizens and evaluate the invisible layers in the shared space.