the project
I created the typographic publication 'silence' to celebrate the migration narratives of the three women from my family through the lens of silence. The Chinese proverb ‘silence is gold’ sums up my concept. ‘Silence’ in Chinese culture is valued & desired, it is seen as strong & powerful. This contrasts to Western culture where ‘silence’ has connotations of weakness & the inability to speak.
The story is told from the perspective of the three women from my family, my mum, my older sister and me, as although our migration stories interweave, they are largely independent. As three women from the same family, we have enough similarities for our stories to run parallel, but enough of an age gap for each story to remain distinct.
- typography & layout
- publication & print
- personal narratives
- publication & print
- personal narratives
silence
The personal stories are told in recount form, with more emphasis on events that occurred rather than emotions that we felt. Furthermore, the narratives are kept in storyteller’s voice. The narratives were first told in audio form, then transcribed and visualised accordingly. Each storyteller transcribed our own Chinese narrative, reflecting our language capabilities in our cultural background.
Every decision I made in relation to this project links it back to my concept. Since my concept is ‘silence’ and it is an extremely personal and treasured story, I wanted the publication to feel hand-made and personal, yet simple and clean. I wanted the audience to feel the mark of the author as well as the weight of ‘silence’.
