4K-video (color, sound), 25:30 min.

Featuring: Berrin Shemdin

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The video explores the tension between assimilation and integration by addressing questions of identity and belonging through the lens of a refugee woman's lost cultural heritage. In a cosmopolitan city like London, the individual's relationship with their past is put into question. Faced with the potential loss of cultural identity and memory, the work asks how an individual can preserve their identity in a world where the connection to their past is at risk of fading away. The intellectual conflict of "Assimilation or Integration?" challenges the audience to reflect on and take a stance on the issue.

The video depicts a woman standing motionless in a central location in London, surrounded by a constantly moving crowd. Her black dress symbolizes mourning and loss, while she holds a traditional yellow floral dress and a white scarf , which are traditionally worn by Kurdish mothers. The way she holds the dress evokes Michelangelo’s Pietà, expressing the universal experience and pain of cultural loss. Her expressionless face and unwavering gaze into the camera emphasize her despair and alienation as she loses her connection to her identity.

The work aims to sensitize the audience to the themes of migration, identity, and cultural memory, and encourages reflection on the importance of cultural identity and the past.

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