On two white strips of interfacing fabric, which run along the top and bottom, is the following text:
She feels something thinking inside of her. She shifts to the other foot and adjusts her skirt, and the feel of the fabric and the smoothing tells her what it is.
All of her eyes have seen the same thing: structural adjustment. SHE TIGHTENS HER BELT AND PATS HER STOMACH WHERE IT IS WARM.
This piece was done during my time as Artist in Residence at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe (1989-1994). This was during a time of increasing Neoliberal pressures and targeting of social programs globally. Where those living with scarcity were asked to ‘tighten their belts’.
Structural Adjustments is a collage work created on a blanket given out by aid agencies. The work functions as a critique of Western aid and the aid industry, as well as gendered politics. The female figure is in the shape of a dress pattern covered in silhouettes, indicating the bodies of those that are still sustained by womens’ work and nourishment. Even as women tighten their belts, the same is not expected of the chefs who are letting theirs out.