The Columns Gallery is pleased to present Becoming White by Eisa Jocson at Asia Now Paris 2024. In Becoming White, Jocson examines the performance of happiness as labor by embodying the figure of Disney’s Snow White. The work combines performance, archival materials, video, and sound installation, exploring themes that resonate with the affective labor of Filipino migrant workers in Hong Kong. These workers, often excluded from main roles due to specific racial profiles, are relegated to anonymous supporting roles such as a zebra in “The Lion King,” a coral in “The Little Mermaid,” or a monkey in “Tarzan.”

Eisa Jocson (b.1986- Philippines), a distinguished choreographer and visual artist hailing from the Philippines, has become renowned for her unique approach to exposing body politics within the service and entertainment industry. Drawing upon her background in ballet and training as a visual artist, Jocson’s installations are immersive and offer a platform for advocacy. Becoming White explores the conditioning of Filipinos as servants, caregivers, and affective laborers for the global North—trained to be subservient yet sufficiently educated to be exploited for their labor. The work also critiques Disney’s influence over children’s dreams, aspirations, and value systems, perpetuating a cycle of desire that continually fuels labor. This process reinforces class and racial hierarchies, maintaining existing power dynamics.

Becoming White was originally produced for the Bangkok Art Biennale and the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ 13 Artists Awards in 2018. It has also been featured in group exhibitions such as ”RAM Highlight: Princess Studies” (2018) at Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai; “Motions of this Kind” (2019) at The Brunei Gallery, SOAS, University of London, UK; and “Courses of Action” (2019) at Para Site, Hong Kong.