ُروحانیت (Soulfulness, Voice of the Soul)

by Rabia Choudhary

This work is a part of my series titled “Growing Through Fire” in which I explore the relationship between different identities, how they intersect and sometimes clash (i.e., ethnicity, religious faith, sexuality etc.). This painting acts as a self-portrait in a way to represent my experiences as a Queer Pakistani Muslim Woman. Growing up, I struggled with my sexuality and hid that part of me away from everyone, including myself. I felt shame and struggled with internalized homophobia due to years of experiences with homophobia from family, relatives, peers and the world. So much of my life felt as if I was soulless, from years of self-hatred and suppressing who I was, it was like my soul was no longer mine. This painting was a way to release this pain and shame, as I let it flow like the water in our oceans. I let the Voice of my Soul speak and this is what it created.
In the upper right corner of this painting, I included a quote in Urdu that translates to “If the soul can leave the body, then why can the heart not eradicate the existence of people?”. This is how it felt all of those years – as if my heart and soul had eradicated my being. Yet, with time and love, I became the woman I am today. I found my voice and I found my soul.

Gas Masks

by Eric Kohler

A digital collage piece which reflects on the situation we find ourselves in during the Covid-19 pandemic, humans must rely on those around them to be honest about their health as we share the same air. We must also rely on technology to connect us while the virus seems to surround us. We all woke up in what seems like an endless loop that feels science fiction and apocalyptic in nature. But through a synchronized reliance in each other, we can achieve a harmonic balance.

Hope-Filled Tears

by Fiona McKay

crying gives me hope
hope for the after
hope for a new way to be
a new perception
in a world with no money
maybe it’s a pipe dream
maybe it’s too extreme
to dream and hope for a future that is clean
clean of capitalist exploitation, extraction, and greed

the tears give me hope for that future
you can see it glimmering, shining within that prism that rolls softly, slowly down that cheek
that pain births new futures, that tear waters the seed in the ground
the tear was always meant to water that seed, gravity demands that prism of light to the ground
to grow a way of being that honours the tears
a way of being that gives space to the tears, light for the seed and the tear to grow together
each tear, each fleeting feeling of each being is given the space, the time that has been lost
lost since the first act of colonization, the first trade of capitalism
each emotion is honoured with time and space, held up and asked what it needs
no longer asked if it has the time to take care of itself, has the money, has the space
no longer does money tower over the value of every being’s life
no longer does it control us
we have space to welcome the tears
the happy tears of families welcoming home their formerly imprisoned loved ones as the last prisons are shut down
the happy tears of Black, Indigenous, and community members of colour as the last drop of funding for the police state is moved to housing and mental health
the happy tears of immigrants and migrant workers as open borders finally end the restriction on their movement
the traumatized tears of refugees when the bombing finally stops, and the reparations and rebuilding of their homes begin
the tears shed in family therapy by families finally able to work through generations and generations of intergenerational trauma

the tears that are the hardest to find within us hold the prisms that shine the brightest
these are the tears that will shine light upon the path to a better world
these are the tears that hold the pain we must answer to
that hold the roots of the collective trauma that we must rip out and repair the ground that held them
these are the hope-filled tears that hold the immense possibilities of a better world.

Artist Statement:

As much as I hate the act of crying, I love the meaning behind it and I think it is powerful and even revolutionary. Tears are like the blood of emotional wounds (except you can’t cry to death). Crying releases so much pain and so much emotion, I think it is a crucial part of healing emotional wounds. This poem focuses on the power of tears and imagines a future without money, where we are not controlled by capitalism. The idea of allowing space for tears is a commentary on the societal values of pushing down emotions, toxic masculinity, and putting your job above your emotional, and sometimes physical, well-being. This commentary is not to say that we don’t want to put ourselves and our well-being above our jobs, but that capitalism does not allow us to take care of our emotions and our mental health. This compounds throughout our lives and the unravelling of these suppressed emotions and traumas is crucial. This can’t happen under a capitalist system. Only once we dismantle this system can we fully unravel and heal from our collective trauma. Tears begin this process.

As part of Art Speaks Brock University Library prepared a selection of books which highlight the role of art in activism and social justice.

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Tethered the Ghost is a theatre collective based in Southwestern Ontario founded by Kaylyn Valdez-Scott and Meryl Ochoa. Our mission is to address the complexities of the Filipino-Canadian diaspora by bringing to life the narratives that we and our families live through