The ocean is near – The sea far
Experimental video + prose essay, 4'10''
Exhibited at Gray Area, 2024
"The Ocean is Near — The Sea Far" reflects on the spirit of a life bound to the Mediterranean Sea. Through a combination of poetic prose and visual imagery, it addresses themes of memory, migration, histories of violence, and the eternal return to water. Waves crashing on rocks transform into particles, as the narrative explores a life across oceans and enduring ties to the sea.
We left the sea
To cross the ocean
Water struggling to unfurl the collective reflection of its shores
Echoing the births of each shore
Echoing the deaths
We crossed through tongues
Quelling words in the back of our throats
That long to ebb and flow under a brilliant sun
This ocean does not contain our speech
To cross the ocean
Water struggling to unfurl the collective reflection of its shores
Echoing the births of each shore
Echoing the deaths
We crossed through tongues
Quelling words in the back of our throats
That long to ebb and flow under a brilliant sun
This ocean does not contain our speech
For 100 years the sea was trusted with my destiny
Despite the traces of betrayal marked on its currents
Water wielded as violence
I return
Despite the waves breaking
And drowning out the deafening voice of a last encounter with the sea
I stretch towards her
The perennial witness of our lives
She still holds in her waters our first encounter
Despite the traces of betrayal marked on its currents
Water wielded as violence
I return
Despite the waves breaking
And drowning out the deafening voice of a last encounter with the sea
I stretch towards her
The perennial witness of our lives
She still holds in her waters our first encounter
