Open Collections

Ibrahim, Marina

The Coptic diaspora in Canada has long been grappling with issues of identity in our newly adopted spaces. Many feel retrofitted spaces are not ‘Coptic enough,’ that it’s not the way it was back home. Attempting to achieve this sense typically manifests in shipping art and trinkets from Egypt to display in our new spaces, or merely copying typologies into new build churches. However, this prompts further questions regarding the authenticity of the work and identity of the diasporic people, and lacks consideration of the contexts they currently live in. What has proven to be truly enduring and viscerally alive are the traditions which cross borders with us. These traditions, whether religious or secular, mitigate better cultural preservation than any stagnant artifacts, as they shift with the realities of those practicing them. This project reimagines the revival of a since forgotten Epiphany parade, once widely celebrated throughout towns in Egypt, now lost in time, to be rekindled by the Canadian diasporic community here in Vancouver, British Columbia. In this space, culture becomes dynamic and entangled with all those participating.

Egypt; Canada; Vancouver (B.C.)

Text; Still Image

University of British Columbia. ARCH 549

Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library

10.14288/1.0442126

Applied Science, Faculty of; Architecture and Landscape Architecture (SALA), School of

Unreviewed

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/