Andreea Racle ş The National School of Political and Administrative Sciences, Bucharest

1. Painting house`s interior walls - reaffirming womanhood, controlling space and perceptionsNonhuman in anthropology II: Limits and boundaries of social science 19th and 20th November 2011the Faculty of Humanities, Charles University in Prague AndreeaRacleş The National School of Political and Administrative Sciences, Bucharest

2. Starting the fieldwork in February 2011, in Bălţeşti • the Roma people represent 34% of the population • NGO- building and renovating houses for some of the local families (since 2009)

3. “What am I doing now? I went in the village to buy colours to merge with the lime, but they don’t have it anymore! Oh God.... what am I doing till Monday? How can I stay here with these half painted walls?”

4. Research question What are the meanings of the domestic practice of painting walls?

5. Sequence of activities

6. findings Meanings of the domestic practice of paintingwalls: • A way of reaffirming womanhood by successfully performing this domestic work. • A practice of controlling space,which reflects the emergence of certain dynamics in the community. • A ritual practice which purifies the space and which is intended to control other people’s perceptions.

7. 1. reaffirming womanhood by successfully performing painting walls activity • „Well... obvious (painting walls) is a women activity. The man goes to work, brings money and the woman is the one who has to take care of everything in the house: to bring chucks, to wash the clothes, to clean everything, to prepare the food... everything has to be in its place! (...) That’s the normal way, isn’t it? (...) The things you have to inquire about: looking after children, washing, cleaning... In the end... is your home, isn’t it? And the man should bring the money. This is how it goes in our community...”

8. 1. reaffirming womanhood by successfully performing painting walls activity • The painted walls: statement about the values of being a good wife and mother.

9. 2. controlling space & reflecting the emergence of certain dynamics in the community • Roma women in the studied community started using water-based emulsion paints (lavabil) “We heard about lavabil since the organization with the houses came in the community and started to paint our houses with it ”

10. 2. controlling space & reflecting the emergence of certain dynamics in the community • Some women have a “pro water-based emulsion paints” attitude, others rather criticize them. • “They want to modernize us!” • “Yes, we also have to use it, this is in fashion now, and is more practical”

11. 2. controlling space & reflecting the emergence of certain dynamics in the community “Is great because is very easy to clean it afterwards. Look… for example here… One day, my granddaughter came inside with her dirty hands and put them on the wall, right here! Can you see it? Here! But I immediately repaired it, I took a rag and with some cleanser I managed to abrade the blots. Now is clean as it was at the beginning! This? You couldn’t do it with the old paintings.” - Perceived advantages in terms of durability and practicability

12. 3. ritual practice with space purification effects and controlling perceptions intention “I would paint the walls every month if I had money to buy what I need… is great after that… you can smell cleanness in the house. I also besprinkle the rear with it… because it disinfects it”.

13. 3. ritual practice with space purification effects and controlling perceptions intention • “Of course, I showed to my daughter how to paint the walls, otherwise what will her husband and mother in law say about her? That she knows nothing!”.

14. Closing… Painting walls activity makes it possible to control materiality. The more a woman succeeds in making the painted walls look beautiful, the more she manages to have the control over space.

15. “Yes, we’re also using lavabil(the new water-based emulsion paintings), this is in fashion now, we have to be like the others, don’t we?”.

16. Thank you!

17. Bibliography Allison, Anne 1997 “Japanese mothers and Obentos: the lunch box as ideological state apparatus”. In: C.M. Counihan & P.V. Esterik (eds.) Food and Culture: a Reader. New York and London: Routledge : 296-314. Clarke, Alison J. 2001 „The Aesthetics of Social Aspiration”. In: Daniel Miller (ed.) Home Possessions. Material Culture behind Closed Doors. Oxford: Berg. Oxford International Publishers Ltd. 23- 45. Douglas, Mary 1991/2000. Purity and danger, an analysis of the concepts of pollution and taboo. London: Routledge.   Douglas, Mary 2006 „The idea of a home: a kind of space, homeplace: a site of resistance”. In: Miller Lane, Barbara (ed.) Housing and Dwelling. Perspectives on Modern Domestic Architecture. New York and London: Routledge : 61- 68. Drazin, Adam 2009. “Vânătoarea de molii: curăţenie, intimitateşi progres înRomânia”. In Mihăilescu, Vintilă (coord.) Etnografiiurbane. Citidianulvazut de aproape. Iaşi: Polirom. Garvey, Pauline 2001. “Organized Disorder: Moving Furniture in Norwegian Homes”. In Daniel Miller (ed.) Home Possessions. Material Culture behind Closed Doors. Oxford: Berg. Oxford International Publishers Ltd.: 47- 68.

18. Goldstein , Carolyn M. 2006 „Do it yourself: home improvement in 20th century America”. In: Miller Lane, Barbara (ed.) Housing and Dwelling. Perspectives on Modern Domestic Architecture. New York and London: Routledge: 331-335. Haşdeu, Iulia 2005 „Kaj Marfa. Comerţul cu aluminiuşidegradareacondiţieifemeii la rromiicăldărari”. In: LiviuChelcea, OanaMateescu (eds.) EconomiainformalăînRomânia: Pieţe, practicisocialeşitransformări ale statuluidupă 1989. Bucureşti: EdituraPaideia. Marcoux, Jean- Sébastien 2001 „The ’cassermaison’ ritual. Constructing the Self by Emptying the Home”. In: Journal of Material Culture, 6 (2), 213- 235. McLaren, Anne E. 2005 „Women’s work and ritual space in China”. In: Anne E.McLaren (ed.) Chinese Women-Living and Working. New York and London: Routledge : 163-176. Miller, Daniel 2001 “Behind closed doors”. In: Daniel Miller (ed.) Home Possessions. Material Culture behind Closed Doors. Oxford: Berg. Oxford International Publishers Ltd. 1- 19. Miller, Daniel 1998 “Why some things matter”. In: Daniel Miller (ed.) Material cultures. Why some things matter. London: University College London Press (2001): 3- 21. Turner, Victor 2001. “Betwixt and Between: The Liminal Period in Rites of Passage”. In Thomas HyllandEriksenSosialantropologiskeGrunntekster. Oslo : Gyldendal: 509-523.