Songs We Carry, Poems We Hold
Yael Brotman. Etching, inkjet & stencil on Kurotani paper, wood cabinetry, audio element. 37.5 x 37.5 in. 2020.
The title of this exhibition, ANTHEM, evokes the sense of a patriotic song sung loudly and boldly. The audio element of my installation Songs We Carry, Poems We Hold, includes sensibilities that are antithetical to loud; they are tender, longing, some even joyous, yet are equally proud. They are lullabies, recitations or traditional songs sung/recited by Canadian young adults in their languages of origin: Arabic, Urdu, Korean, Tagalog, Spanish, Jamaican Patois and others.
Thematically, this installation suggests the ephemeral nature of language. The fragility of remembered songs extends to the culture that is brought with families migrating to Canada (my personal experience). We want to integrate into the big tent while preserving our stories, holidays and love of the topography of home. Our children walk the fertile line of hyphenated identities.
The young people involved in this project were invited to sing or recite a song/poem that speaks of that love of their land of origin. The English translation of each song/poem appears in the colophon lying in the large cavity of the book casing. The print hanging above the book casing was initially folded like a map and sat atop the colophon. The concept of ephemerality versus solidity is further enhanced through the imagistic references and materiality of the print.