A PLACE CALLED DIASPORA
What does emigration do to those who emigrate, what transformations does it operate in their lives? How does it affect their perception of the self and that of society? What influence does it have on personal notions of belonging and identity, in particular identity defined in terms of nationality?
The panels combine text from interviews with Portuguese emigrants in London, UK with photographs showing parks selected by the interviewees. The park refers to the centrality of the notion of space to that of emigration and the sense of home, while at the same time signifies internal and psychological states. The experience of the nurse, the scientist, the cleaner, the politician, the doctoral student, the banker, the pub waiter, the architect, the nanny - all are transformed into a portrait that aims to tell more than mere stories of professional and economic un/success.