The Care Archive




Kenenza is a part of The Archivers Collective for this project
The Archivers Collective 2022:
Kenenza Michiko
Noyona Biswas
Renee Yeo
Sarita Abeyesundere
Yu Jia Hui
2022
40 Cyanotype prints on paper of varying sizes
Dimensions Variable
The mapping of Sister Eucharia’s photographs, letters, and hands encapsulate a single extraordinary life. Sister Eucharia is a gentle force to be reckoned with. She has given her life to service since the age of 18 and has shown immense care for others through multiple avenues. We gained an intimate perspective through her personal lens of evocative photographs that showed a creative sensitivity toward the people and places she encountered during her mission. She took great care to identify each person in the photographs and provide invaluable context to each setting in order to create a full and rich picture.
We have showcased this archive of care by using her hands; i.e. ‘her instruments of care in creating a map. This map is intertwined with the lives and experiences of people she has touched in her life. To know her is to know her through others. Thus, the hands in the cyanotypes reach out and run across the entire body of work.
Since Sister Eucharia’s life has been a journey of both uncertainty and hope, the sunlight that is required to expose the cyanotype prints symbolizes the unpredictability of a life of service as well as the beacon of light that Sister Eucharia has been for others.
The map centers around the two largest prints on the adjoining walls that are placed as milestones of her journey. The left is, leaving home to join the Franciscan Missionary and growing the preliminary branches of her family tree. The other symbolizes the expanding of this family tree around the world and her invaluable work in service. We hoped to bring forth her light to the world and showcase a glimpse into a life of faith, hardship, sacrifice, and service.
We now pose these questions to each of you,
What does it take to live a life of service?
Looking back at your own life, what would your archive of care look like?
The Care Archive was shown at Assisi Hospice, Singapore as part of Stories of Care II exhibition.