Our homes are physical manifestations of our identities. How we construct and inhabit rooms and which things we acquire and use, display or even hide speak volumes about who we are throughout different stages of our lives.
So what does it mean when we start to neglect and avoid certain spaces and stop acknowledging or even remembering the possessions that fill them? In our lifetime, we are typically forced to confront these neglected spaces in two scenarios: when we move or after a loved one passes.
‘The Address of our Dis/Beliefs’ shares part of designer Sonia Lala’s experience as she spent hundreds of hours emptying her childhood home, sifting through layers of family history that had been buried, ignored and unresolved. There, she discovered parts of her identity that were trapped – embedded in physical paraphernalia that had painful individual and family narratives attached to them.
This exhibition can be viewed on two separate evenings (Jan 25 and Jan 29). Each night opens with a brief talk, as Sonia describes how approaching this labour as a slow, reflective and intentional practice turned it into a powerful opportunity to reframe limiting beliefs, deepen connections, and restore vital energy.
Through interactive installations and activities, we are invited to consider forgotten spaces and artifacts from which we might have energy of our own to reclaim. This aims to encourage more attention and intention in our daily lives, clearing pathways for greater wellbeing.
The larger transformation Sonia wishes to explore is the current practice of after-death estate cleaning. In rushing through or delegating this work amidst our grief, what opportunities for healing might be lost? How could we approach this process differently as individuals and families so that we can navigate our next, and even final, chapters more gently and with a greater sense of freedom?
Schedule (Jan 25 & 29)
Doors open: 6pm
Opening talk: 6:25pm
Exhibit open for viewing: 6:40-9pm