Zinnia-Naqvi-Vanaja-Ganeshan-Kondavil-Jaffna-SriLanka-1
Zinnia NaqviVanaja Ganeshan, Kondavil, Jaffna, Sri Lanka, 1977 ; Byra Dineshkumar, Pickering, ON. 2012, from the series Past and Present, 2012-2015.
Photo: courtesy of the artist

Zinnia Naqvi’s practice is permeated by familial archives, intergenerational dialogues, and politics of belonging. Principally lens-based, her work presents images that speak to the intimacy inherent to cherished family archives, as well as the embedded values that it represents. Past and Present II (2012 – 15) is a photographic series that explores the intergenerational identity construction of migrant families. Pairs of photographs offer for comparison, on one side, archival images of migrant parents in their home country, and on the other side, their children recreating the archival image, a few decades later, in a Canadian setting. More than merely showcasing the air de famille between parent and child, the series explores the way in which cultural, spatial, and temporal gaps between the country of origin and the hosting country might be bridged through intergenerational relationality.

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Pages intérieures Esse 107 Famille
This article also appears in the issue 107 - Family
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