childhoods in antipodes
In exhibition with Le Hangar Zéro, 2023
about
Childhoods in Antipodes is a photo exhibition centred on the universality of childhood experiences (ages 0 to 12). The series explores how the vast geographical distance between children growing up in the same generation influences their memory of it. Through a deeply personal sharing of the photo memories belonging to thirteen Generation ‘Z’ young adults, the exhibition will juxtapose the thousands of kilometres in distance with the striking similarity in the human experience lived unknown to either child standing on the opposite side of the world. At its root, it seeks likeness amongst differences, with children being rooted in vulnerability and dependency, innocence and unbounded curiosity about the environments in which they belong.
Antipodal countries are a pair of countries that exist on oppositional geographical hemispheres of the world. In other words, if someone dug a tunnel to the other side of the world, they would resurface in the country antipodal to their starting position. All distances hereafter are in kilometres, and measured in walking distance or direct, where the latter is not possible.
%20copy.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
gratitude & personal note
Being abroad makes you rethink concepts of home and all the people you have associated with it. Even the least sentimental people yearn for familiarity and comfort. In my loneliest hours I would flick through family photos and home videos of my childhood, photographic evidence of the time my brother made a sushi mess and the lego-candy-machine-obsession I had. Being in an international environment has made me open to expanding my definition of home to new friends, alone together in this foreign city. “Home" is now people from all walks of life, from cultures so far removed from mine that even globalisation could not help me recognise its facets. With this exhibition, I wanted to emphasise the similarity of childhoods around the world, in its innocence and vulnerability, its dependency on others and its curiosity about our worlds. I wanted to explore similarities in the human experience that is unknown to either child standing on the opposite side of the world.
This series is a celebration of two years in Sciences Po, and more importantly, of the people who have defined it. My sincere gratitude to Le Hanger Zéro for supporting this project. To Tracy, Satoshi, Salomé, Ruben, Jules, Kiyo, Elodie, Cate, Arth, Alberto and Zac, a million ‘thank you’s for generously believing in this project and for allowing me a glimpse into your worlds.