Oh my Home - Lost and Found
An installation of woven bags commonly used by those in transit and short performances that ask us to reflect on and re-define the meaning of the word ‘home’.
Oh my Home - Lost and Found is an installation of woven bags and short performances that ask us to reflect on and re-define the meaning of the word ‘home’, beyond its traditionally place-based definition as a perpetual movement and network of meeting points, where home is continuously lost and found. The work digs into a deeper sense of belonging that remaps identity, language, culture, family, and homeland, that transcends the individual, and that relates to the on-going fears, hopes, and changes happening in communities across Europe.
The installation projects the intimate feeling of home onto the open-space of the city, taking down barriers and boundaries, and encouraging reflection about how one’s own notion and claims of home intersect and differ from those of others. The installation is constructed from an object that embodies the notions of home, travel and movement: the "immigrant" bags, which people carry their homes in. Originally made in the immigrant community of Barbès in Paris, these bags are the cheapest in the world and one of the most widely used due to their accessibility, practicality and affordability. They are used internationally by migrants to transport and store their personal belongings, with fabric prints reminiscent of table and picnic cloths.
A trailer/van/caravan anchors our presence in the public space, becoming a temporary home for the artists. Lines expand from the bags and spread across the site. As metaphors for paths, boundaries and connections, these lines redefine the mapping of the space and serve as a meeting space, a canvas for dialogue.
Oh my Home - Lost and Found is a collaboration between Lalya Gaye (UK), Saadia Hussain (SE) and Ixone Ormaetxea (ES).
Oh my Home - Lost and Found is an installation of woven bags and short performances that ask us to reflect on and re-define the meaning of the word ‘home’, beyond its traditionally place-based definition as a perpetual movement and network of meeting points, where home is continuously lost and found. The work digs into a deeper sense of belonging that remaps identity, language, culture, family, and homeland, that transcends the individual, and that relates to the on-going fears, hopes, and changes happening in communities across Europe.
The installation projects the intimate feeling of home onto the open-space of the city, taking down barriers and boundaries, and encouraging reflection about how one’s own notion and claims of home intersect and differ from those of others. The installation is constructed from an object that embodies the notions of home, travel and movement: the "immigrant" bags, which people carry their homes in. Originally made in the immigrant community of Barbès in Paris, these bags are the cheapest in the world and one of the most widely used due to their accessibility, practicality and affordability. They are used internationally by migrants to transport and store their personal belongings, with fabric prints reminiscent of table and picnic cloths.
A trailer/van/caravan anchors our presence in the public space, becoming a temporary home for the artists. Lines expand from the bags and spread across the site. As metaphors for paths, boundaries and connections, these lines redefine the mapping of the space and serve as a meeting space, a canvas for dialogue.
Oh my Home - Lost and Found is a collaboration between Lalya Gaye (UK), Saadia Hussain (SE) and Ixone Ormaetxea (ES).