Until the lions tells their side of the story, the tale of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.

African Proverb

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The Concept

When They Have Their Own Historians is an integrated project that amplifies marginalized communities' voices and experiences through a series of interrelated performances, artist books, exhibitions, workshops, and community engagement events. This project interweaves education, visual arts, literature, performance, and social practice to challenge conventional narratives and cultivate a more inclusive cultural dialogue.

In our process, we use the allegory of food to explore solidarity, resilience, and societal awareness. We explore the diasporic experience, focusing on the role of culinary traditions as carriers of identity and connection for BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ communities, highlighting recipes as symbols of heritage and unity. We are examining the narratives of Black and Asian diasporic communities through the lens of food and folklore, fostering dialogue and solidarity.

By blending these projects into a comprehensive narrative, "When They Have Their Own Historians" aims to redefine the discourse around cultural history and identity, using art as a catalyst for social change and encouraging a deeper engagement with the stories that shape our collective human experience.

Our workshop seeks to be a facilitator for people to tell their stories in the form of “biographical sculptures” that will be used as collaging materials in a larger installation representing a collective narrative.

We will invite people to bring an everyday object that holds a personal significance for them and ask them to share. This will be followed by a visual art/poetry workshop for the participants where they can explore ways to turn narrative into “art.” Finally, we will work together to turn the object and the story into a “biographical sculpture” which will eventually become a part of the final installation of the collective narrative.

The workshop aspires to provide resources to all those who seek to reconfirm and memorialize the beauty of their daily life and identity—by empowering them with poetic tools. Art is a conduit of healing, resistance and revolution. We seek to come together to create a future where we can all wield art to recast the world, a world sonorous with our individual-collective stories.

The Workshop

“You’re not a victim for sharing
your story. you are a
survivor setting the world
on fire with your truth.
And you never know who
needs your light, your
warmth and raging courage.”

— Alex Elle

Image above: the story of Inna Filian, a Ukrainian displaced to Granada because of the war. Created during the workshop.