Contribution to Tubelight #122: Magie — A visual mindmap of The Daughter, Durga and Diasporic Dislocation

Thirty years ago my mother relocated to The Netherlands to start a new life that promised prosperity for her and her family back home. As her daughter, and thus second- generation immigrant myself, I have over the years observed the “spore”, in diaspora: a scattering of body and mind. This contribution for Tubelight is a visual mindmap of "The Daughter, Durga and Diasporic Dislocation", a project that seeks to make visible the conditions of diaspora and fictions of survival, by zooming in on my mother. Wireless earbuds and live CCTV footage of her kin in Sri Lanka become portals to connect with her birthplace, while her body is still located in The Netherlands. As much as modern technology makes possible a connection beyond borders, it has transitioned my mother into a continuous state of liminality, of being in- between two worlds. The work calls upon contemporary Wxtch Craft, specifically techno paganism, as a tool for storytelling and survival. I, the daughter, take on the skin of the witch, to create a rite of passage, a plea for healing. This visual mindmap explores the symbols and references that are embedded within the work. There are pieces of the spell, which comes in three phases: past, present and future, as well as visual references to pieces of memory across time.