a work in progress, created for the ‘we are what we record’ workshops conducted by LUX moving images and mayday rooms, as a part of the ‘uncovering the archive’ project. the aim of the workshop is to consider ones relationship with and access to personal archives. through these sessions conducted by LUX I am exploring what it means to record and archive for myself, my community, and our shared struggles, as well as what it means to situate these histories in the present.
by looking at photographs of my grandparents and parents from when they first migrated to Oman and UAE respectively and researching the Kerala-Gulf diaspora over the past half a century, i want to understand this migration of people and how it affect communities back home, the notion of home itself, and what role caste and class plays in this movement. while going through images of my family, i noticed this pattern of photos of them posed in front of cars. i am understanding that owning a car is a prominent goal in the life of migrants in these cities, to freely move around and access a foreign country. through my video i want to create a narrative of what it means to leave home and travel abroad to find a ‘better’ life and what entails this life. over the course of this workshop i will be looking at more of such kind of images in order to make a final video.
