I want to know…
“The more I live, the more I realize who I was supposed to be at the very moment of my conception.” Jorge Luis Morejon
(Excerpt from Neither Here Nor There, a performance piece presented at the European Graduate School in Switzerland).
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There are questions about my condition as an exiled person that guide me through life in search for some explanation, some way to help, some way to justify my life, my choices, to reconcile myself with my destiny, with my karma, with my community. Those questions persist as it persits mi exilio. Soy caminate y en busca de la verdad hago preguntas. I am a walker and in search for the thruth I ask questions.
I want to Know...
the origin of rituals and how rituals came to be an important part of the socio-historical health of communities.
how violent displacement without return, can be assuaged through the restoration, recreation and customizing of performance rituals.
the specific aspects of the social environment which can aggravate displacement.
about the social behaviors manifested by exile communities and in what degree are those behaviors the result of an ongoing sense of displacement.
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about the relationship between displacement and post-traumatic stress syndrome in displaced communities.
the meaning of liminality and go deeper into the idea of liminality being more than just part of a process, but instead a permanent stage in the lives of displaced communities.
about my own sense of displacement and PTSD and how the ritualistic aspect of art making has helped me to cope.
myself as a case study and analyze the ways in which I can apply the knowledge of my personal experience to the larger aspect of the research.
my own performance pieces through the understanding and recognition of performance as a ritual.
Perhaps, after knowing, like a good old Cuban caminante, I can just turn around, and con paso lento, go back home….