The Story of Our Journey: Phoenix, AZ Showing on Friday, January 22, 2021
After two successful online showings in 2020, the commissioner of the the project, The City of Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture, will be showing The Story of Our Journey on their YouTube channel here at 5pm Mountain Time on January 22nd. The showing will be embedded at this site for your convenience, or you may interact directly with the video on YouTube during the performance.
Later this year, we are excited for the live premiere and performances at academic and other institutions across the United States and internationally when it is safe to do so. If you are interested in the making of the video, the use of audio footage, and the coordination of events please contact us.
ABOUT THE WORK
The Story of Our Journey recounts the journey of refugees worldwide through personal experiences of individuals interviewed by Their Story is Our Story (TSOS), and was done in collaboration with Dylan Findley, the composer, and Csaba Jevtic-Somlai, the principle clarinet in the project. This multimedia composition recounts the escape from homelands to foreign lands. The beginning of the piece places the viewer as a bystander to the interviewing process and takes them on a journey through why the individual refugees had to leave, their struggle along the journey and during arrival in new lands, to their hopes for the future and belonging in their new homes.
MOVEMENTS
- ”So…”(Introduction)
- ”An Opportunity”- Rhenald and Felix Cross the Sahara Desert
- “I Counted Them Myself”- Ali and Zarrin Leave Afghanistan
- “The Water We Drink”- Eduardo, Adriana, and Elizabeth Flee Gangs; An Account of Refugees’ Travel Through Foreign Lands.
- “Go, Go, Go!”-Rhenald and Felix Leave Libya; Zerrin Crosses the Sea
- “Deep in My Heart”- Rohingya Children Sing and Play with Interviewers; Elizabeth, Eduardo, and Adrianna Pass Through U. S. Immigration Control
- “Still Looking”- Refugees Seek Stability and Integration
Why consent matters to us (and why it should matter to you too).
It is especially important to provide accurate information as to how a photo will be used and obtain consent when working with refugees.
Stories are Changemakers: An Instagram Live with Sarah Kippen Wood
Sarah Kippen Wood, Former Executive Director of Their Story is Our Story (TSOS), shares how stories connect and lead to change in an interview with Darien Laird, our Director of External Media. Sarah gives us an inside look at how TSOS functions and shares how telling her story helped her fight a stage four cancer diagnosis.
Uniting for Ukraine: U.S. Sponsors Needed
Just as citizens in Europe and the U.K. have heroically supported displaced Ukrainians by opening up their homes or securing other housing, assisting with school enrollments, employment needs, and language learning, Americans now have the opportunity via the Welcome.us Sponsor Circles program to directly help newly arrived Ukrainians. The United States has committed to welcoming 100,000 Ukrainians temporarily for a period of two-years and the ability to apply for employment authorization in the U.S. as long as they have a U.S.-based sponsor to petition for them.