"Cultivating a connected community
My piece showcases the three identities I posses as being born in Brunei Durrusalam, my ethnicity being Pakistani and having a citizenship of Canada. This piece indicates the struggles I have of balancing all three of my identities. Having lived in Canada more specifically peel district, has made me slowly lose a lot of my culture. However, when I moved to Durham I found a lot of people from my community and was able to share a lot of my experiences with them. The main house you see in my piece represents the home I live in now. It’s the main focal point of the piece as it showcases how I have finally found my home and how I am comfortable in it. The small rip at the top right showcases the mosque I used to pray at in Brunei. This is important to me as that’s where I found peace with myself and god. And that this hasn’t left me since I have moved to Canada. The larger rip on the bottom right is a shopping plaza I always go to in Pakistan. It’s the little thing I remember from back home. All these themes connect back to cultivating a connected community because as an immigrant being able to come together as a community and share each others culture in a safe space creates growth and equity that DDSB is very good at. My piece showcases I believe how many immigrants may feel as a new member of Canadas society but that there is always space for all culture and identities in Canada and more specifically DDSB. "