A PLACE NO MORE
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AN IMMERSIVE MULTIMEDIA INSTALLATION ON IMMIGRANT GRIEF FOR HOMELANDS LOST TO WAR AND CLIMATE CHANGE
PROJECT
A PLACE NO MORE explores the intersection of war and climate change and their impact on the mental health of Canadian immigrants of Ukrainian and Syrian origins.
Our goal is to understand how the loss of our home landscapes in Syria and Ukraine – forever changed by armed conflicts that are also rooted in climate crisis – affect our emotional and spiritual well-being away from home, and how this loss shapes our cultural identity and relationship with the “Canadian” terrain.
THEMES
- WAR & CLIMATE CRISIS are two destructive and consumptive forces that radically reshape the environment and affect our relationship with our land. These forces have dominated the landscape of Syria and Ukraine in the past 10+ years. We are seeking to understand the intersection and similarities between war and the climate crisis.
- GRIEF is brought on by the sense of loss that immigrants feel away from the homeland that’s trapped in conflict and vulnerable to destruction. We explore the experience of grief in Ukrainian and Syrian immigrant communities who observe the changes of their land from afar.
- CULTURAL IDENTITY is the product of cultural practices and stories shaped by environment and landscapes. It’s how our ancestors learned to live. It’s how they pass on lessons of appreciation and survival. A strong sense of cultural identity is associated with positive mental health. We aim to document and study the cultural practices we carry with us that have been shaped by our homelands, and how the changes in the landscapes impact our cultural identity and sense of self.
The installation will use a combination of visual and audio elements, and the exhibition space to create distinct layers of physical experience for the audience.
The project is currently in research phase with the support of the Canada Arts Council.