Lingering Part 1 (2024) :
This series of artworks is dedicated to French Algeria and Algeria, and my own experience of “Lingering”.
Because of my family history and my current situation in relation to the country where my mother was born, “Lingering” is an heritage that has been passed on to me, and which I try to express by working on my identities.
This feeling of “Lingering” is expressed on a daily basis by a recurrent questioning of my sense of belonging, and the related demand for justification in view of History (colonialism) and my origins (as BIPOC but not of African descent), studded with apriorisms, particularly about the knowledge of the language, and confrontations to political statements, xenophobia and homophobia.
Building on the stories and archives from my maternal family, with origins from this former French Region, I attempt to artistically answer numerous issues faced by the heirs of transmitted culture and identities.
Recollecting aspects and experiences of my everyday life, traditions and personality that are directly linked to French Algeria, I tried to create a representation of this complex situation while addressing the following questions:
-How does one reconnect with oneself while in that state of “Lingering”?
-How does it build on the fact of being able to return to one’s country of origin, and whether or not one is ready to do so?
-What does it take to feel whole while experiencing Lingering?
-What elements, objects or rituals one may have to preserve their own culture? Especially following a context of migration or conflict.
-What are the limits or safer paths on this quest to self-identify? Does one’s new place allow them to Belong, ask to Adapt, or make choose Resilience and Forget?
-What balancing habits could help us deal with contrasting or conflicting realities in this state of “Lingering”?
The role of the floral pattern, characteristic of my artistic identity and which will cover the images, will be to accentuate the idea of time passing, gradually erasing memories while creating a new image that balances, adapts to the background, as to recall our tendency to embellish and later forget the stories of the Past.
Part 1 of this series has been presented to the following exhibition:
‘Lingering’ (August 8 to 28, 2024), Presented by: Neilson Park Creative Centre, Curated by: Lamis Haggag.