In 2020, Diasporakidz began by each collecting archival and anecdotal research of a chosen ancestor. After a thorough exploration of the materials, each participant embodied a compelling moment from their ancestor’s life. As a collective, we then mapped timelines of our ancestors' histories and overlayed points of intersection (dates, migrations, historical influences, etc.), built altars of offerings which respect cultural and ancestral legacies, developed a vocabulary of gestures, and explored the woven threads of trauma and healing through generations. 

This ancestral framework is a critical point of entry to embody art-making as decolonial praxis, in which stories of immigration, colonization, and assimilation are re-examined with a slow-moving atmosphere of trust, intuition, and emotional safety. In this creation and dissemination process, we are expanding our work to further centre decolonization by integrating our findings of how our ancestral stories intersect with the land we are living on.

Our collaborative process has been developed to foster emotional safety, mental wellbeing, and deep embodied presence. The culture of our collective is very present in the work, and offers a necessary glimpse into a decolonized artistic framework. Beyond our own collective, this creative experience has reverberated into our individual artistic practices and communities: it is a healing force. 

Photos:  Dayna Szyndrowski