Islands

• A land mass (smaller than a continent) entirely surrounded by water
• Something resembling an island
• Being isolated or surrounded
• An isle

Islands is a digital presentation [text, document, event, image, object, and sound] on concepts of mobility. This work is informed by personal and social history, as well as by visual and literary text. It is also interconnected with communication and virtual dialogue, as during the development of this project, these tools became very relevant in the process of getting to understand ideas related with islandness and migratory movements.

Islands is an exploration of transnationalism, liminality, and mobile livelihoods. In this work, some of the imagery is rooted in travel, while other images are connected with islands and the subjects that inhabit them. Islands are metaphors for communities that are continuously evolving, as islands carry rich histories of migration. My concern is on concepts of mobile livelihoods and whether or not these could broaden definitions of identity and location. Indeed, questions and arguments about identity and self-determination have dominated postcolonial discourses. Being between places or not being grounded to the specificity of place is most of the time in tension with generalized notions of nation and cultural identity; such as the pervasive and hard to reconcile separation between "the here and there" and the island and the continent.

Soraya Marcano