香港六合彩中特网

Luke Heslop
Object:聽Longshoreman鈥檚 Hook

A cylindrical piece of wood is cut to measure almost聽perfectly the width of a man鈥檚 hand across the聽knuckle. When placed in a labourer鈥檚 hand with his聽fist clenched, his fingers will envelop it tightly,聽and satisfyingly, save for a length of steel protruding聽from the wood between the middle and index聽finger. This steel will travel straight for a few inches聽before curling into a hook forming a near perfect聽extension of the carriers鈥� body. With this hook聽a labourer can almost double the load he might ordinarily聽be able to carry. This simple tool of wood聽and steel is a material object ubiquitous across South聽Asian geographies of labour. Attached to the聽hands stevedores, emancipated slaves, and 鈥榗oolies鈥櫬爄n ports and labour sites across the subcontinent,聽the longshoreman鈥檚 hook, has had an historical
hand in the movement of goods and the extraction聽of value from labour under capital. The hook has聽also played an informal role in the physical protection聽of workers. Though at one level a commonplace聽tool, it has been personalised by labourers.聽As a specific regional contribution to the workshop,聽this presentation explores the social life of the聽hook in a world of labour in Sri Lanka鈥檚 wholesale聽markets.

Adhitya Dhanapal
Object:聽鈥淩eal Madras Handkerchief鈥�

In this talk, I will look at the history of the 鈥淩eal聽Madras Handkerchief鈥�, a popular item of export to聽West Africa in the 19th century and later on, the聽United States in the 1950s to highlight how consumer聽preferences and increasing demand for聽vegetable dyes and the handmade, 鈥渁rtisanal鈥� process聽of production continued to shape the market聽in a world saturated with mass produced, mill-made聽cloth.

Part of the聽Objects Across Borders聽series, bringing聽together scholars聽and creative practitioners working in and on South聽Asia to reflect on the stories embedded in visual聽and material artefacts. This series is organised by聽Vindhya Buthpitiya聽(香港六合彩中特网) and聽聽(Princeton) and hosted聽by the聽香港六合彩中特网 Centre for the Study of South Asia聽and the Indian Ocean World, and聽听补苍诲听.