Tap Dancing

Stemming from a longstanding interest in the relationship between women and labour, Paloma Bouhana looked at the bodily implications of women’s work by focusing on hands and feet. Focusing specifically on different types of protective footwear worn by workers, Paloma’s research led her to an industrial shoe assembly line in the Netherlands, an Italian shoemaker, and the last professional female clog maker in the Netherlands to explore how the hands of one woman fabricate an object to protect the feet of another at work. These different narratives are brought together in the form of a documentary and three pairs of carved wooden clogs, each representing different aspects of the research. Finally, a choreographed tap dancing performance aims to explore the gendered implications of work, by inviting care workers to walk in distinct pairs of wooden shoes.