Rufina Wu (*1980)

Die Architektin und Künstlerin Rufina Wu, deren Familie aus Hong Kong nach Kanada ausgewandert ist, hat bei ihrem Studienaufenthalt in Beijing in den Katakomben unter der Stadt recherchiert und schließlich dort auch für eine Weile gewohnt. Sie zeigt mit Bejing Underground Fotocollagen von dort, wo Wanderarbeiter ihre Wohnstätten eingerichtet haben und Hostels Betten an Migranten vermieten. –––>

Rufina Wu on her work: Political and economic reforms since the late 1970s initiated the formation of a new subaltern class in contemporary Chinese cities known as the floating population. Millions of migrants have flowed through China’s uneven economic landscape in pursuit of the Chinese Dream. There is an estimated 4 million migrants actively contributing to the construction of new Beijing. Without proper household registration (hukou) status, rural migrants have little to no access to social welfare including subsidized housing. Migrants have, of necessity, developed unconventional habitats in the capital city. This project investigates a unique type of migrant housing in Beijing – underground hostels retrofitted from civil air defence basements. The core of this study consists of field research conducted from 2005 to 2006. Personal narratives, photographs, maps, and illustrations drawn from first-person experience reveal furtive portions of Beijing: marginal, banal, and hidden stages upon which life unfolds.