On Border and Identity: A Performative Reflection from an Applied Theatre Project

Abstract

As an artist-scholar, I query: In what ways does border perform, (dis)connect, alter, shift dissolve and (re)imagine identity? Migration is essential to human existence in this present ‘postnormal times’ characterized by chaos, contradictions, global displacement and neoliberal realities (Ziauddin, 2010). From voluntary to forced migration, border shifts as living and non-living things move, and it is constantly being re/negotiated. Beyond physical or territorial border navigated in migration, cultures and arts transverse boundaries because people move with cultural practices, beliefs and traditions. For instance, as migrants’ cultural practices and art forms trans-border, culture becomes a mobile apparatus that constantly changes and shifts from one form to another. As an autobiographical piece, in this article, I focus on the experience of the individual [me] to explore how my migratory and mobility experiences shape my identity and in turn find expression in my artistic practice. I engaged the notion of root and routes to articulate the fact that I’m in constant motion of ‘shifting identities’ (Bhavnani & Phoenix, 1994) and creating my own ‘imagined communities’ (Anderson, 1991). I focus on my performance in an applied theatre project with refugees, immigrants, and international students in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.