A JOURNEY TO STILLNESS
2020
Multi-screen and short film experience dissecting the migration experience.
‘A Journey To Stillness’ is a multi-screen installation that dissects the migration experience by drawing on the memories of Ghanaian migrants who moved to London during the 1980s and 90s. The experience utilises collage animations, immersive soundscapes and archival footage to create snapshots highlighting the nuances of everyday life in Ghana and London. The project will unpack the socio-political environment of Ghana during it’s early years of independence with the transformation of Ghanaian highlife music during the 1950s to 1990s running as a parallel narrative; a commodity that was globally exported. This project aims to conceive a new approach to viewing and interacting with silenced histories with the view of reversing the stigma surrounding resettlement.
The film’s narrative interweaves various accounts relating to the migration experience, collected from multiple archives and conducted interviews whilst creating fictional scenes to clarify gaps and silences in researched histories whilst providing a full bodied experience. The film is broken down into chapters. Chapter One surrounds early memories of Ghana post-independence. It embodies the vibrancy of Ghana embarking on a new journey of independence but also the frictions as the once segmented notion must move as one. Chapter two focuses on the military overthrowing the first president of Ghana, foreign loans from the UK and America multiplying and the impressions left from colonialism through an account of an interviewee’s experience of seeing his brother for the first time after travelling aboard. For Chapter three, Thatcher England will be explored. The pre-conceived notions of England the interviewees had will be juxtaposed with the racial injustices that were commencing in London. This section will also explore the new life Ghanaian migrants carved for themselves during this time period.
Overall, this piece aims to dismantle the negative ideologies surrounding migration into the UK.
The film’s narrative interweaves various accounts relating to the migration experience, collected from multiple archives and conducted interviews whilst creating fictional scenes to clarify gaps and silences in researched histories whilst providing a full bodied experience. The film is broken down into chapters. Chapter One surrounds early memories of Ghana post-independence. It embodies the vibrancy of Ghana embarking on a new journey of independence but also the frictions as the once segmented notion must move as one. Chapter two focuses on the military overthrowing the first president of Ghana, foreign loans from the UK and America multiplying and the impressions left from colonialism through an account of an interviewee’s experience of seeing his brother for the first time after travelling aboard. For Chapter three, Thatcher England will be explored. The pre-conceived notions of England the interviewees had will be juxtaposed with the racial injustices that were commencing in London. This section will also explore the new life Ghanaian migrants carved for themselves during this time period.
Overall, this piece aims to dismantle the negative ideologies surrounding migration into the UK.
PROJECT RESEARCH SITE
