In the Absence of God presents the third chapter of the Nomansland-series. The Nomansland project was started in 2016 and initially inspired by motives of self-reflection towards overcoming mental health issues. In the Absence of God focusses more closely on the research and portrayal of personal trauma, caused by the codependent vicious circle of prejudice of social constructions such as countries, culture and religion. Constantly craving for the approval and love of others or greater beings, with very little work being done towards prioritising loving oneself and understanding oneself independently first, makes the answer of the question ‘Why do I feel incomplete?’ rather apparent. The project photographically explores the first step towards exploring and overcoming one’s own trauma by portraying ‘good and bad’ as equal concepts; trauma as part of everyone’s identity. The concepts of trauma and cultural codependency will be further elaborated in my upcoming ‘The Trauma of Society’ - Thesis.
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Special thanks to Tommy Umm for curating and hosting the exhbition as well as to the the team of 289e Saigon for the opportunity to show the 'In the Absence of God' - exhibition for a second time in Vietnam. Special thanks also to the Echoes (Liem Hieu) for performing live at the opening of the show. 'In the Absence of God will be on show at 289e for 2 months until the end of January 2020.
