Carrying my Roots
Cargando mis Raíces
Project Description
In this project, participants create luggage pieces with papier-mâché, using them as symbolic containers to hold seeds, documents, and memories that represent migrant stories. These pieces remind us that our memories are alive: they take root, bloom, and transform their surroundings, shaping a collective archive where each work carries a unique story and meaning.
Objectives
Participants create papier-mâché sculptures inspired by their migration stories, their identity, their connection to their roots, and their visions of growth.
Papier-mâché symbolizes resourcefulness, repurposing, transformation, and the ephemeral. Each sculpture becomes a “seed bomb”, an object that holds memories and the potential for new life.
These pieces, conceived as symbolic “luggages”, embed seeds and personal reflections. Eventually, they will be planted in a public garden, transforming into a living archive of resilience, identity, and hope.
Project team
Carolina is a Salvadoran Canadian art educator and multidisciplinary artist based in Montreal. She holds a Fine Arts degree in Art Education from Concordia University and focuses her practice on portraiture and abstract art. Passionate about creativity, she continues developing her style and engaging in new projects. Her work and programs center on self-love, identity, and empowerment through art.
Carolina Aguirre - Artist Leader
Teresa is an art teacher and artist that believes in arts power to connects us in ways that can still be explored. Originally from Ecuador, Teresa moved to Canada seven years ago to develop her artistic practice. She obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Emily Carr University of Arts and Design.
Teresa Larrea- Artist Leader
Fiorella Pinillos, Giuliana Lira, and Pamela Gutiérrez were integral parts of the team. On this occasion, Fiorella supported the curation, planning, and organization of the process; Giuliana supported the planning and organization, especially in outreach; and Pamela supported the organization and audiovisual recording of the sessions. Together, we helped make the project as friendly and comfortable as possible for the participants.
La Libélula Members
Natalia Botero - Photographer
Natalia is a Colombian photographer, visual artist, and researcher with 30 years of experience. Her work focuses on photojournalism and documentary projects about Forced Disappearance, victims of armed conflict, and their families.
She joined us throughout the workshops. All the images from these moments were captured through her lens and her deep sensitivity.
