Journey

I have joined paper, stone, ink, aluminum and other mediums to create a picture of past, present and the future of the people of G-d. English words associated with this image are: scattering, meeting, healing, holy, light, heaven and earth.

It is a personal exploration of DIASPORA, IN ORIGIN IS GREEK, FROM DIASPEIREIN ‘DISPERSE’ FROM DIA ‘ACROSS’ + SPEIREIN ‘SCATTER’ (DEUTERONOMY 28:35)

THOU SHALT BE A DISPERSION IN ALL KINGDOMS OF THE EARTH

Hints of the meeting place of Zion’s happy future await while foreboding dark starts are ahead, the Holy Spirit takes centre stage, represented by a bird to guid3 people on their journey.

William Safran, published in 1991 six rules to distinguish diasporas from migrant communities. These included criteria that the group maintains a myth or collective memory of their homeland; they regard their ancestral home as their true home, to which they will eventually return; being committed to the restoration or maintenance of that homeland; and they relate “personally or vicariously”; to a point where it shapes their identity. While Safran’s definitions were influenced by the Jewish diaspora, he recognized the expanding use of the term.

Erika Koenig-Workman, 2012