1/3 Testing the terrain

Horizontal excavations are among the riskiest activities of artisanal miners. In this case, a group of miners is digging a tunnel to test for the presence of gold in the area.

Buhweju District, Uganda, February 2020

2/3 Keeping eyes on the mine

Miners assess the risk of collapse of a horizontal tunnel dug into the terrain.

Buhweju District, Uganda, February 2020

3/3 Bringing up earth (and gold)

After days or weeks of hard work, miners have reached the layer where they have more chance to find gold.

Buhweju District, Uganda, January 2020

Christophe and mining materials

In preparation for hisco-labouring activities, Christophe expressed the wish to work with materials that serve a role in mining. Here, he is standing next to old drilling equipment, which would later become part of the installation.

Itaituba, Pará, Brazil, August 2019

Christophe and mining materials

In preparation for hisco-labouring activities, Christophe expressed the wish to work with materials that serve a role in mining. Here, he is standing next to old drilling equipment, which would later become part of the installation.

Itaituba, Pará, Brazil, August 2019

Room 05: Gold Lifeways

Wall: Uganda

Instructions

Gold lifeways are characterised by precarity, expectations, waiting, and sometimes by (often temporary) security. Miners build lives for themselves from gold, when fortunate. Land issues can be critical, as can the economic factors needed to make a living and invest in mining. This is gendered; women are rarely landowners, which constrains their access to mineral rich land and to credit. For women, mining is also combined with other livelihood demands and with their caring roles. Organisational dynamics feed into transformations within gold lifeways. In Busia, NGOs such as EWAD support miners to establish and consolidate Artisanal and Small-scale Miners’ Organisations (ASMOs). ASMOs act as vehicles for sustainability changes, consolidating small-scale mining operations, eliminating child labour, improving the position of women, introducing cleaner technologies, and accessing different markets.

Next Wall:
Gold Lifeways
West Africa