Representing Your Identity Abroad x "There is nothing outside the text" by Carlos Llavata
As much as I appreciate art, more often, I find myself more drawn to the label that comes with it. The Treachery of Images (This is Not a Pipe). Rene Magritte (Belgium, 1898-1967). Oil on canvas. Spanish artist Carlos Llavata even took it a step further by turning the label into the main art itself. The title, the artist, the medium, and if I’m lucky, an entire paragraph on the background of the artist and his or her work excites me more than the art itself. I spend more time in front of the artwork label than the art itself, no matter how beautiful the artwork may be. I guess you could say that I lay in the camp of meaning and interpretation being more important than the beauty of brush strokes and marble carvings themselves. Beauty bores me.
These ‘labels’ aren’t limited to installations and paintings. As humans we have the need to put a label on everything. Categorization is a part of our behavior. We can’t help but to stereotype our fellow kind for survival.
So we are all walking around with these ‘artwork labels’. Your name. Your country. Your beliefs. Your gender. Some you proudly ascribe to yourself. Some others ascribe on you. Some are true, some are far from that.
It feels terrible to be bound to these labels, but like it or not, we are our labels. And when you are abroad, in a foreign land where you are a minority, your label becomes even more obvious. It stands out. From one that’s the size of the palm of your hands to one brightly lit billboard on a busy road. Though we all desire to be valued, appreciated, and understood as we are - like how an artist would rather leave the work untitled or simply numbered for the viewer to take the time and solely appreciate the art without reading through the museum label, it's difficult to achieve. Even without these artwork labels, the audience find themselves interpreting the art in whichever way they please. And what's so wrong about labels? You ascribe them to yourselves early on. It represents the things that you believe and are important to you.
You don't expect everyone to have rosy pictures of your label because that's misleading. You'd rather paint an accurate picture and ensure that your label isn't one-dimensional. So it can be disappointing to know that people of a different ‘label’ poorly stereotypes or misinterpret yours. This can be due to blatant hate or just mere ignorance, a lack of exposure to people like you and your label. Travel broadens your mind, but at the same time it broadens the minds of the people you meet on the road, be it locals or fellow travelers. Like it or not, all of a sudden you have become an ambassador to your ‘label’, as it may be the first time these people have met someone like you, and how you behave and represent yourself plays an important role in educating the people you meet and the impression they would have of people with this label.
I proudly wear the label of my nationality: Indonesian. When I’m abroad and outside of Asia, and especially in smaller towns and with locals, it is often the first time that they have met someone from Asia, let alone Indonesia. And there are three ways this could go:
1. They do not have any prior knowledge about your ‘label’.
They do not have any stereotypes about this category and are simply a blank page. This is the easiest as you merely have to be who you are and share facts about this ‘label’. This sets the tone right and will be their new association to this ‘label’.
2. They do have a stereotype of your ‘label’ - and it’s all positive and mostly correct.
Let’s use nationality as an example. If someone knows about Indonesia and mentions Bali (which everyone knows more than the country it is in!), I appreciate their knowledge and talk about the diverse cultures, races, and landscapes. I’d Google Image the Borobudur Temple, beaches in Belitung, and Mount Semeru to show them.
3. They do have a stereotype of your ‘label’, and it’s terrible and incorrect.
Now this is the toughest. It isn’t a must for you to counter each of th eir incorrect stereotype, but if you want to and you have the time to approach this, go ahead if they seem willing and not hostile. But sometimes you just can’t and so the best you could do is be a kind, courteous person.
It’s important to understand that not everyone who negatively frames your ‘label’ is a racist, sexist, or whatever -ists there are. Most simply have limited exposure to the right information and actual people who embody that label. A miseducation, you might say. It may not be your duty because you’re there to travel, not become a preacher to every person you meet.
But maybe you want to be a good ambassador to your label. This is what I try to do to represent two identities that matter to me when abroad: that I’m Indonesian and from Asia. And the things below aren’t limited to the ‘label’ of race or nationality.
1. Get informed.
I expect small talk about how my country is like so I should know the basics. I quickly read up interesting facts about my country (did you know that Indonesia’s the biggest archipelago in the world with 18,000 islands? We have pink beaches and really weird fauna? We used to have one of the strongest kingdoms in Asia?) and try to know what’s happening in my country, though it pains me to read up on Indonesian politics.
2. Behave.
I’m probably the first or one of the few Asians they have met so like any other traveler, I’d try to learn the local customs and be courteous. You don’t want to be a total jerk and have them stamp all of those embodying the same ‘label’ as a jerk.
3. Breathe when a negative stereotype comes at you.
Here are some I have heard:
“Aren’t all Indonesians Muslims AND terrorists?” (Though we have the biggest Muslim population in the world, we aren’t all Muslims and please don’t associate an entire religion or nation with terrorism)
“Don’t you all just live in the jungle?”(Yes and we swing from vines right and squat 24/7 right? Nope. We live in different places and I myself am a city chick, born and bred)
“Aren’t all Asians super studious, only hang out with Asians, and aren’t outgoing?” (Whoa are you seriously going to stereotype an the biggest continent in the world like that?)
Or my favorite, the ‘reverse stereotype’: “You’re not so Asian and I mean it as a compliment” (I get this so often that it should be the title of my memoir) and “You’re attractive - for an Indonesian/Asian” (You do know that you’re implying that the ‘Asian stereotypes’ and beauty standards you implied are negative and inferior to yours right…?)
If you have the time and patience, try to unpack why they believe so. Explain why that stereotype isn’t true, and even if it’s positive, why that stereotype doesn’t apply to everyone. Sometimes there’s a reason for these stereotypes to exist and that there’s a grain of truth in that. Maybe the majority of the people with this label do behave, look, or think this certain way. If they are being mean about this, I wish I could say take the moral high ground and prove them wrong by being great but I’d be lying if I said if didn’t attempt to tear them apart with my words.
You'd also be surprised at how sometimes people are open to learning more. Despite the negative stereotypes out there (and thankfully all this negativity is often outweighed by the opposite), it'll bring a smile to your face knowing that you've tried to explain and present your identity in the most honest light to people, and/or help enlighten those you meet so that they know better about your 'label'. I've gotten so many people who were scared of the idea of traveling to Indonesia to placing it at the top of their travel bucket lists.
A part of you might argue, but why must I be the one doing all this? It’s not my job. Whoever you meet has the responsibility to get themselves informed. But think about it, that’s such an ideal world. Not everyone’s going to take their time to read up more about whatever ‘label’ you represent, and even if they do, there’s a chance that their information is inaccurate (like Childish Gambino’s album title…. Because the internet). So if you’re out there, might as well be a good ambassador to your ‘label’ whether actively or not.
If you’re frustrated at the world for all the inaccurate stereotypes,
why not do something about it?
Words by Nadia Pritta Wibisono.
If you want to learn more about psychology and categorization, listen to this podcast episode titled ‘The Power of Categorization’ by Invisibilia.
There's been many interesting articles and videos on why artists prefer to leave their work untitled, with one reason being to let the art "speak for themselves". There's a good video on this, and this article tells of the historic reasons why.