Ala

An attempt to summon ghosts of the past and communicate with my ancestors through signs of the alphabet, this work examines the ways in which languages mixed as a result of migration in the 19th and 20th century. The work features alphabet signs that have been used as symbols of resistance, letters banned by occupying forces, and others that were the subject of authorities’ attempts at eradication. The tale of Ala’s migration has been written on the fabric in embroidery. Buy Ala does not exist. She is the outcome of combining the stories of several people. She tells the compelling tale of learning a new language and life in exile. This non-existent character relates to the history that we learn at school. Perhaps things happened that way, or maybe things were entirely different. In a sense, each of the ghosts is right in their own way.