When

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Summary

This display is part of our Artist Showcase series, spotlighting work by local artists with migrant heritage in our window display:

Himani J Weir
Finding threads, tracing lines

“Tales from one island to another, a lived experience and portrayal of herstory.”
Octavia Kamala Jayasuriya

Storytelling has endured throughout my life, whether it was a Grimm’s fairy tale read at bedtime or a Jakata fable read to me from a Buddhist text. In the tradition of oral herstories, Octavia’s stories sit.

As a child, I savoured her recollections of life in Sri Lanka spanning the 1930s to the 1960s. When my mother recounted scenes from her life, she spoke in a uniquely animated way. I imagined the personalities and places that she talked about so often. Right up until the time of her passing, I memorised these stories and jotted down her words, knowing one day I would do something with them.

I want to preserve her authentic voice. Through the process of illustration, I feel as if I am taking her hand in mine; joining her to travel into her past and make my own discoveries.

I am forever intrigued about her impetus to migrate to England, joining my father, Raja, in the late 1960s. I want to consider and explore her journey, the risk-taking, the sense of adventure, the loss and isolation, as well as the freedom she discovered.

The illustrations will become a picture book as Octavia’s legacy continues, threading together remnants of the past and present with those that are yet to be created.

I grew up in south-east London and at that time, in the area I grew up in, there were few faces that looked like mine. As I child I came to Lewisham to go shopping with my family – surrounded by its diverse ethnic communities, it made me feel somehow more connected.

Alongside my own art, I teach art at Lewisham College, where I have worked for many years, encouraging my students – many of whom are second- or third-generation immigrants – to share their own stories.

Artist Talk: Himani J Weir

Watch Himani J Weir talking about her work at the launch event for her Artist Showcase at the Migration Museum in April 2021.

Supported by Lewisham’s Creative Enterprise Zone and SHAPESLewisham