Long before children understand borders or national identity, they begin learning about the world through their families. The music they hear, the gestures they recognize and the stories they are told become some of their earliest connections to the places they come from.
For Raíces y Culture,
@basseadx explores how cultural identity takes shape from childhood. In the animation, the word RAÍCES glows above an outstretched arm, while lines of colour ripple across the screen. The animation combines glowing imagery of roots and growth with an electronic soundtrack that evokes traditional Middle Eastern music.
Presented in Lisbon as part of Still Here, the work draws on the artist's description of culture as a child's “first map of the world,” formed through the traditions, symbols and stories inherited from earlier generations.