The concepts of diaspora and politics of location together offer a powerful conceptual framework for a historicised analysis of contemporary (trans)national movements of people, information, culture, artistic practices, commodities and capital. This is a highly timely project given that we are currently experiencing an extremely difficult and complex socio-political climate with, for instance, Brexit in the UK, the mass protests in Lebanon and the mistreatment of dual nationals by countries such as Iran, China and Russia.

The concept of ‘home’ has always had a dual meaning to some extent but this quality has become particularly heightened given the conditions mentioned above. ‘Home’ can be a joyful and celebratory opportunity to be reunited with friends and family, and visit familiar places which hold meaningful memories but, at the same time, given what is happening in the world right now, ‘home’ can also be absolutely terrifying.

In this context, ‘Far from Home – Unhomed, the Nowhere Home and Homelessness’, responds to a complex image and imaginary dimension of ‘home’ to articulate, capture or perhaps stage the above-mentioned notion of double agency and the formation of diaspora in the current state of emergency.

This project follows on from my artistic and curatorial research conducted at St John’s College Artist Residency, University of Oxford (2018-19) reflecting on the coexistence of joy and fear in response to current socio-political vulnerabilities in a world in which human life can seemingly be destroyed at any moment by the irrational enforcement of power/war/disaster.