liminal adjective 1. occupying a position at, or on both sides of, a boundary or threshold. 2. relating to a transitional or initial stage of a process.
people who are displaced live in liminal spaces.
millions of people in and from the Arabic speaking region have been displaced from places they once called home. others, able to remain in the buildings they call home, have faced challenges so vast that they have been displaced psychologically and emotionally.
whatever form displacement has taken, it forces us to face questions about our futures, our values, and our identities. through this initiative, we consider and attempt to respond to such questions in different creative ways.
our first exploration is of Syrian identity, at a time when Syrians are treading the threshold between a silent tyrannic past and an unknown future. just as the experiences faced by Syrians during the years of revolution were markedly diverse, so too are the emotions and aspirations of Syrians in the present.
sharq.org interviewed over 300 Syrians about diverse topics during the revolution years. storytellers spoke about life in the country before 2011, about the impact of migration on identity and of conflict on belonging, on building peaceful societies, on the role of women. these stories were the launchpad for many creative endeavours – including a play and several animations – and serve as a platform from which to begin our exploration. we will also be documenting new stories, so if you’d like to share your story with us, please get in touch.
explore our oral history collections focused on the people of Syria:
