Chenoa Beedie

People make sense of their lives through the stories they tell; about who they are and where they come from. As storytellers, our narratives are rarely singular; they come into being with those around us and our connected lived experiences. Reflecting on the variety of human experiences we gather memories, habits, and cultural landscapes expressing entire complexities of human intentions and, as such, form the very basis of human existence.

Grounded Narratives: An Impermanence of Being’ examines concepts of home, belonging and community through the interwoven telling of our collective understandings of Being. In response to a residency in Montclair New Jersey, U.S.A the work expands on the global examination on belonging and borders. Assembled in an online archive of footage from 19 90 to 2022, the gathered narratives weave stories of human existence through time and space. Rooted in the relationship between land and people, it maps a felt sense of belonging with personal landscapes; visible and invisible, co constructed by our socio cultural, political, and personal understandings of them. Characterised by human beliefs we embed our nature of living into the landscapes we explore.

In reflection of the recent deaths on the Melilla Morocco border in June 2022, this work is timely in to day’s understandings of the physical realities of our migration stories across borders, examining how communities bear witness to the continuous colonisation of land and body.