the being & breaking of silence (interactive interdisciplinary art installation) 2025

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"The Being & Breaking of Silence" is an interactive, interdisciplinary art installation featured at the 2025 Moving Trans History Forward conference. Centered within a reimagined phone booth, the piece captures transgender experiences across generations through an immersive, multi-sensory encounter.

Drawing from the University of Victoria's Transgender Archives, the installation invites participants to engage with recorded narratives from trans elders via a traditional handset. Complementing these oral histories are headphones delivering a musical response, alongside collaged artwork enveloping the booth’s exterior—each element layered to evoke the complexity of transgender identity, memory, and resistance.

In a time of growing social and political tension, The Being & Breaking of Silence stands as both an artistic expression and a critical intervention. It reclaims public space for queer and trans storytelling, fostering reflection on visibility, intergenerational connection, and the ongoing struggle for justice.