(non) absence – (non) presence, 2022

We are all migrants
In absence and presence
of experiences, roots, places, homes, humans, things, needs, opportunities, dreams,
realizations, freedoms, rights, voices, responsibilities, connections, associations, memories
So could we
ask, find out, tell, listen,write, read, show, see, try on
my, her, his, their, our
stories
of absence and presence
after all
We are all migrants

(non) absence-(non) presence is a performance-practice-play of collective storytelling with open participation. It is based on interviews, collected by the artist, with immigrants from various countries living in Poland. These stories speak of objects related to home, pre-immigration life, places, people, and memories of something important – of objects absent and present, existing and disappearing, yet living on in memory, body, and sensation. These stories show that regardless of whether we lost our home, whether we left forcibly or by choice, with or without suitcases, what country and cultural tradition we come from, or whether we are attached to things or not, we are similar and close in our memories. We are all migrants in the (non) absence-(non) presence of our past.

The project was implemented in a frame of Open Institute program of Strefa Wolnosłowa (Sept-Dec 2022).

With great appreciation to Ali, Maryna, Artur, Sitorai, Zak for their stories, time, and revelations.