IAC Commissions: Loah
Details
Overview
Grásta: Grace in Uncertainty
"Over the last 18 months, I’ve spent many hours with my mother, listening to her stories and documenting her experiences. I have hours and hours of voice notes, physical recordings archiving a remarkable life.
Born in a mother and baby home to her mother, an Irish nursing student, and her father, “Unknown” (according to her birth certificate), she was adopted and grew up like any other little girl in Crumlin in 1950s and '60s Dublin. However, skin colour, the mark of this Unknown Paternity, and the many questions and challenges it brought to life, led to a decades-long journey to know her true origins. We did find these bloodlines, leading us to the Caribbean. Through the process of interviewing her, I have had the privilege to share in the discovery of this great and mysterious inheritance filled with both sorrow and silent triumphs. It has become a deeper discovery of my mother, my family and our country, woven as we all are into the tapestry of Ireland.
This piece is a brief reflection on the immensity of this ongoing excavation, in song.”
Premiering soon.
Written by Sallay Matu Garnett (Loah)
Commissioned by Irish Arts Center as part of Grásta: Grace in Uncertainty, 2020-2021.
Irish Arts Center's Grásta commissions series challenged twenty-six artists, reflecting a range of perspectives and disciplines, to create work in response to the idea of finding grace in uncertainty. Click here to learn more.