Chinee Girl 2011

CHINEE GIRL focuses on fifteen female subjects occupying various social circles. Through their stories, a contemporary portrait of the Caribbean Chinese identity emerges, questioning how one defines ethnicity and identity in a Caribbean space.

Women of Chinese descent in Trinidad occupy a space that is simultaneously visible and invisible. Despite national and regional acknowledgment of this minority group's significant cultural and economic influence, female voices are notably absent within the academic literature and early migration history of this unique culture. The mixed-Chinese claim varying degrees of Chinese heritage and also co-exist with recent migrants in the fourth wave of Chinese migration to Trinidad. What does it mean to be simultaneously visible and invisible? What purposes are served by existing in the space in-between? CHINEE GIRL focuses on fifteen female subjects. Through their stories, a contemporary portrait of the Caribbean Chinese identity emerges, questioning how one defines ethnicity and identity in a Caribbean space.