That We Should Be Heirs: A Call to Participants
A deep breath of gratitude to everyone who has submitted letters. Thus far, we have received 2,981 contributions!
As an artist whose work encompasses themes of hardship and war and the refugee/immigrant experience, I am naturally led to the indispensable narratives of fight and fear. To resume the course, I humbly invite participants to contribute your handwritten letters to a project that I am calling That We Should Be Heirs, an interactive fine art installation commissioned by San Diego Art Institute (SDAI). Scroll down to learn more about where this project will be traveling.
We have inherited much. We are the inheritors of wars and suffering, spiritual and psychological. We are the inheritors of trauma, physical and emotional. But we, indeed, are also heirs to the mighty will and survival instinct that lengthens our spines as we stand for justice, fighting against the destructive forces that aim to deter us from the freedom that is ours to claim. We are heirs of the generational strength that buoys us in deep waters, and the ancestral resilience that ushers us toward healing and into deeper understanding. This project invites members of the community to share in our inheritance, utilizing art as part of our practice in compassion and restoration of courage as we confront our own personal conflicts and fears with gentleness. During this devastating immigration crisis and time of great conflict, perhaps we can help alleviate our individual and collective burdens by facing our fears and drawing from one another’s strengths. Together.
Exhibitions + Workshops:
February 16 - March 31, 2019 : That We Should Be Heirs debuts at San Diego Art Institute
April - May 2019 : Gould Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
February 4 - December, 2021: Gallery 51, Massachusetts College of Liberal Art, North Adams, MA
November 3, 2022 : Stanford University, Stanford, CA
Presently - Indefinitely : Letters will be continually accepted for inclusion in this traveling project. Thank you for your support in its evolution!
This is an ever-evolving project that requires the hands, voices, and heart of the People. Thank you for helping to bring this artwork to life through your heart and your words.
Who / You : I have been graciously invited to work with SDAI along with our partners in developing this special project for our community. All are encouraged to contribute handwritten letters; all letters received will be included in the installation. This will be an all-inclusive, multi-voice, multi-language, interactive, self-reflective, community-building project. That We Should Be Heirs encourages participants to engage in the fading art of letter-writing as a method of relieving burden and promoting empowerment and healing. By putting hand to paper and joining one another in this collective activity of personal letter-writing, we can share in this intimate process of privately documenting the stories, hardships, and triumphs—triumphs experienced, cultivated, and hoped for—that connect us all. In taking part in such activity, we also fill that space with togetherness by offering a quiet support for one another as we attempt to erase our fears.
Filling the space, together, and erasing fear (beginning at 11:00).
What : Hand-written letters by all are appreciated and accepted. Handwritings by refugees and immigrants, and families of refugees and immigrants are encouraged. Letters handwritten in participants’ native tongues are welcomed and encouraged. Writings by survivors (however defined) are encouraged. During the residency, I will be facilitating on-site activities and off-site workshops during which participants will be asked to write letters to themselves and/or others to pay respect to those who have shared in our heartaches and about the approaches we’ve found to quiet our pain. Letters can be as long or as short as the author wishes for it to be. It is important that contributors’ hands are involved in the project, and therefore, original handwritten letters are preferred. All writings submitted will be included in the installation. **I respect the privacy of our willing participants and will not read your letters, unless you invite me to do so.
I am hoping that letters be written in pencil or charcoal pencil. This way, as your scrolls are handled by others at the museum, the particles of graphite and/or charcoal from your writings will leave with them. Concurrently, the oils of their hands will be left upon your scrolls. This physical exchange echoes the emotional exchange that is made in compassion, when we share our stories with others. Although pencil and charcoal are preferred, all letters will be included regardless of medium with which they’ve been written.
All writings will be rolled and bound with string, remaining private and illegible . That We Should Be Heirs aims to offer a hallowed space for the participants to release their burdens and their fears into the art. As I receive more letters, the installation will continue to grow. This project focuses on one of the most profound commonalities that we all have—our desire to heal, our constant search for new ways to alleviate burden, our hope to gain victory over fear, and the consistent need to let go of the things that have a way of pressing discouragement upon our hearts.
Scrolls were the first form of editable record-keeping texts. Some of the oldest scrolls that have been found are the Torah scrolls, dating back to the second half of the 12th century to the first quarter of the 13th century. They were used in ancient ceremonies, and are rare because when they are damaged, they stop being used for liturgies and are buried. they held Sacred texts and hidden truths. Submitted letters will be rolled into scrolls, unread, to become a part of the installation.
How : If you would like to contribute to this project, please send me a note, and I’ll be happy to send you an address!
Ideas : The description, “letters” can be loosely interpreted. All forms of writings will be accepted, and might include the following or other forms:
letters
notes
poems
quotes
free association writing
testimonies
Although this project’s aim is to address our fears, your handwritten contributions may include, but are not limited to, your thoughts about :
the loss of/fight for freedom
writings that confront the things that we fear and testimonies of why fear them
how it feels to fear for others, and how we /can contribute to the healing and empowerment of others
how the immigration crisis/current events have caused fear in the People
how fear can help motivate us to take action, and how it can also cripple
letters written to fear itself
moments when we’ve overcome fear
letters that promote healing
the wounds that have been caused by fear, and the fear that we hope to overcome
letters to the beautiful people who have ushered us out of fear and into strength
the power of faith in the face of fear
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me and I will be happy to address your concerns. We hope you will join us in this experience.
** Peace be unto you **
An immense breath of gratitude to the following institutions for your support and involvement in That We Should Be Heirs:
