01-10-22 | My Family's Not A Tree, It's A Forest

This project begins with the examination of my family archive, and relies on a research based practice in terms of experimenting with different ways of collecting information. Written, sonic and visual data, once collected, will form the basis of an interdisciplinary practical approach towards a body of work incorporating sound, sculpture and installation. The aim is to present the archive in ecological terms of interdependence, rather than archaic linear frames of time, in order to begin answering the question:

• How can an understanding of the family archive’s ecology promote a sense of belonging in individuals from a racially mixed background?

In order to answer this overarching question I begin the process of enquiry by outlining a set of aims for the project via a series of specific research questions:

• In what ways can I examine and investigate my family archive via an artistic practice?

• Which methods of display are most effective when presenting items from the archive and artworks inspired by it?

• How do new works made from and about the archive help to disseminate its oral histories?

• To what extent can a practice based around the family archive impact ideas of identity and feelings of belonging?

1. Mum and Dad, Brighton, circa 1970 (photograph found in Hassan family archive)