Born Here Project

Who we are is born out of a place and a story—the defining moments that transformed us. Where were you born? What place do you always carry with you?                                                             Just published, Born Here Project artist's bookzine! 16-page 4/C tabloid. To purchase a copy, please email: [email protected]

[bornhereproject]

BORN: QUEENS, NY

I was born in Queens, Far Rockaway. It has special meaning for me. I’ve lived there 21 years, all my life and I don’t plan on leaving. My whole family is there. All my friends are there. I’m there. It’s me. It’s my home.

—Lauren Mecabe

[bornhereproject]

BORN: NETHERLANDS TO SWITZERLAND

I was born in a really small town called Limmen in the Netherlands. Everyone knows everybody. It’s adorable. Then, when I was 10, my mom got a job in Switzerland so I lived in Switzerland from age10 to18. Even though I was officially born in Holland, Switzerland is what shaped me. And I was at an international school so in many ways I feel like I’ve been influenced from all different kinds of people from all over the world. I’d like to think that it has made me open minded and they all helped me to broaden my horizon. I’m so super grateful that this is my story because I can’t imagine living any other life!

—Eva Schouten

[bornhereproject]

JUST PUBLISHED: BORN HERE PROJECT ARTIST'S BOOKZINE

If you would like to purchase a copy, please email [email protected]

[bornhereproject]

JUST PUBLISHED: BORN HERE PROJECT ARTIST'S BOOKZINE

Two 8-page forms of white neswprint wait to be inserted into each other to create final zine!

[bornhereproject]

BORN: BRASIL

I was born in Brazil. I now live in Washington DC.

   When I left my country, I said I would live well anyplace because I put it in my mind to live well. But I would keep generosity in my heart. The generosity of spirit of Brazilians stays with me. It’s not the samba and the things people think of, it’s the generosity of the people that keeps me alive.

   Food and language: Rice, beans and Portuguese is my Brazilian gift to my children. I cook rice and beans almost every day. I want my children to feel Brazilian.

   Inside our home, we only speak Portuguese. It’s a rule. I have a 4-year old daughter and an 11 year-old boy. They speak Portuguese and English, both with no accent. Language, and food, are the bond. Portuguese is the connection to family and friends. Language is the most important connection.

—Fabiana Santos

[bornhereproject]

BORN: CUBA

I was born in Cuba and that’s both literally and in any other form.

   I carry with me a sense of the "grey" because my life was, and still is, full of dualism. You can see it in my art. I am always questioning who I am. Am I black, am I white? Am I Chinese, am I Santera, am I Catholic? There’s questing of apparent opposites going on within me all the time. I’m either both or I’m neither. I’m not really white, and not really black. I see it both ways. I either feel connected or isolated. I carry that sense of the grey with me and it helps me go on about life. I ask: Am I a data base manager, am I an artist? Am I a graphic designer, am I a painter?

   I come from a family that, where they are from geographically and their races and religious beliefs and life styles, makes no sense. And yet, it’s a family, my family. That dichotomy of being a mix of everything, of seemingly disparate things, doesn’t make sense, but it doesn’t have to. It works for me.

—Ailen Pedraza

[bornhereproject]

BORN: SAINT PETERSBURG, RUSSIA

I was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia. At that time it was Leningrad, but I say Saint Petersburg.

    I think of myself as an island being because Saint Petersburg is all islands. I’ve always lived on islands. Now I live in New York City, all islands. I cross the East River every day. I lived in New Zealand for a year, and that’s about as island as you get. When I was living in Paris I crossed the Seine every day. And now my parents and I co-bought a home in Florida on Bay Harbor Islands. So it seems that one way or another, my destiny always brings me to islands, to water.

    I love water, I love swimming. It causes a rebirth in me, both spiritually and physically, every time I enter the water.

   I always like being a bit on my own, not quite a part of, not part of a continent, a bit apart. I like being with myself. In a subconscious way, being born in Saint Petersburg, being an islander, has formed the independent woman I am.

—Elisabeth Konovalova

[bornhereproject]

BORN: FEMALE TO MALE TRANSGENDER

I was born in Frederick, OK, but I was mostly raised in Wisconsin. Christmas 2010 I came out as female to male transgender and that’s when I’d really say I was born, when I was able to live my life as me. Yeah, I came out as James and then moved kind of nomadically. I moved from Wisconsin to live with some family in Texas. And then I moved to Seattle. In Seattle I became a part of the trans community and really became a self-advocate for who I am.

   I kind of look back, hindsight 20/20 kind of thing, I was always into the more masculine things. Growing up I had cars , and I got in trouble running around shirtless. I was told, “you should put a shirt on, girls wear shirts.” You know, stuff like that.

   And then I came out as possibly being queer. I was talking to a friend on the phone and my guardian, who was raising me at the time, overheard the conversation and she said that I needed to be out of the house before I publicly came out of the closet or, as she said, “whatever you people do.” So I was like, OK. I started packing my stuff that day.

   It’ll be five years this Christmas. And I’m happy.

—James Prost

[bornhereproject]

BORN: WASHINGTON DC

I used to come to the Lincoln Monument when I was a kid. I don’t think I particularly cared for Abe Lincoln at the time, although I do now. But I used to sit on the monument’s steps here, staring off down the Mall toward the Capitol, and there was something in the place that embodied Lincoln’s story and the early days of the city and the early days of the country.

   Thinking about all that made me feel I was in the middle of something that might one day matter. And that everything that ever happened to me might one day matter because I was a character in that very big story. I suppose that’s what happens when you grow up in Washington. You feel like an insider in the national story in a bizarre sort of way—even the gossip of Washington is the gossip of America and that’s what I grew up with at home. People talked about domestic and foreign policy as if they were things that mattered in our lives, which is pretty bizarre, thinking about it these days. At any rate, it’s a place I remember as being important to me and it certainly helped define me and shaped the things I would pursue later in life—writing, journalism, storytelling. I am very much a product of my hometown.

—Kirk Cheyfitz

[bornhereproject]

BORN: SAINT CLAIR, MICHIGAN

I was born in Saint Clair. It’s a super small town—very rural, conservative and not very diverse. So, I think it pushed me in the other direction. I’m thankful for that really quiet upbringing because now I kind of crave the chaos and diversity in life!.

—Meghan Kindsvater

[bornhereproject]

BORN: HAWAIʻI

I’m always proud of where I’m from and how far my ancestors came to produce me. It’s a long line. I’m proud of how many ethnicities I’m made up of—Kanaka Maoli, Native Hawaiian, Japanese, Chinese, English, Irish, Scottish and Dutch.

    I identify as a native Hawaiian artist. I have a lot of respect for what my ancestors went through. As I get older, I keep thinking about how they did things, how they got along before we were colonized. They really didn’t have a word for trash. They used everything. Everything had a purpose. Everyone had a relationship with the land; the land had a relationship with the people. There was a huge symbiotic respect and relationship.

    I think about that a lot now that I’m in New York. The most extreme opposite of Hawaii. It affects me a lot.

   I make sculpture out of trash. My studio space is in Union Square, so there is a devastating amount of trash. When I look out my window on garbage day, I see the entire landscape changes with garbage bags lined up. I think: What would my ancestors do? I have to think of a way to use it. I use trash for a finer purpose, to create art, to make people think.

—Maikaʻi Tubbs

[bornhereproject]

BORN: TOKYO

I was born in Tokyo, Japan but lived in the US. From a very young age I was always obsessed with Japan and when I was 15, a junior in high school, I got to play in a piano concert there and that just solidified my love of the country. Then, when I was 17, I moved there for a while and then I moved there again a few years ago. I’ve just always loved Japan.

   I do love music. The reason I first went to Japan was because I was taking Suzuki piano lessons and my teacher had studied in Japan with the founder of the program. Every year they have a ten piano concert where ten pianos play at the same time and I was lucky enough to go play in that.

   I have pretty much stopped playing the piano now, but I’ve always been a creative person and whether it’s music, visual arts or film making, I always do something. That piano experience in Japan was the start. It’s such a big part of my life that it’s impossible for it to not influence different aspects of what I do or the way I think.

   I think that’s true for anyone who has lived overseas and experienced a different culture. That really changes your perspective on the world.

—Alexander Harris

[bornhereproject]

BORN: PHILADELPHIA

I was born in Philadelphia. I’ve always been a Philadelphian.

    Philadelphia, in many ways, has its own special attraction. It’s unique in that, because of its proximity, it’s always compared to New York City. It’s a more blue-collar town, more rough and tumble; in some ways admired and, on the other hand, intimidated by New York.

    Even though I’ve lived in New York for 35 years, I feel like a transplant and that’s what makes my ties to Philadelphia so great. Philadelphia is where I belong. It’s where my heart is, it’s where my family is. I still root for my home teams, whether it’s the professional sports teams or the local college teams.

   Philadelphia is in me, will always be in me as the place I was born, the place that is home.

—David Graff

[bornhereproject]

BORN: HARARE, ZIMBABWE

Being born in Zimbabwe has taught me to be really innovative. You have to learn to beat the system at all times. The government systems have failed in all sectors. You have to always be a person who thinks out of the box. For many people, it’s about getting that dollar to get a meal. For me, it’s saving up to build my music studio.

   All that I’ve learned in music is self-taught. I learned through a program called Fruity Loop, like the American cereal. That’s the program that got me into music.

   Just recently we had a show at Book Café, a local venue, but it just closed down. Book Café was taking on all sorts of musicians, any form of musical art, whether it was ethnic or traditional sounds of Zimbabwe, to hip hop, R&B. It was the only platform we had in Zimbabwe to showcase upcoming artists and producers.

—Arnold Marata

[bornhereproject]

BORN: IRAN and LONG ISLAND, NY

I was born in Flushing, Queens, raised in Long Island but my parents are from Iran.

   Since I was raised in Long Island, and still live in Long Island, I am definitely a Long Islander at heart. But since I’ve visited Iran so many times over so many years, it’s hard to feel like I belong to one place. There’s a kind of a disconnect. I always feel like I belong to many places. My family is actually from all over. I have family members in Sweden, Toronto, Dubai and Iran.

   Living in Long Island means commuting a lot! For me, I love the city so I’m living on trains. I like having the city and I like being able to be out of the city.

   When I’m in Iran, I still feel like an outsider. Even though I’m Iranian, they can tell from the way I dress that I’m not. I wear a hajab, but I’m not with the styles they have there. They’re actually very stylish there. They don’t necessarily abide to just being modest.

   There are so many cultures in New York. That’s what makes me feel at home.

—Bebe Nodjomi

[bornhereproject]

BORN: CHALA, TANZANIA

To be from Chala, on the southwest border of Tanzania, is to be calm, kind and honest. We are straightforward and strong people. We like to do the right thing. We are very religious. Before Christianity, we had our own religion and we worshipped big trees. And then Christianity came, which was very welcome, so most of us are now Christians.

   When I was 4 or 5, until I was about 10, every time I would visit my grandfather, who lived way, way, way, away from the village, up in the bush, I would see many different animals like hyenas, elephants, buffalos. I took care of a large herd of cattle at my grandfather’s farm.

   Life was simple at the farm. You wake up in the morning, go milk cattle, get something to take as breakfast. In the afternoon, my mother and my grandmother would grind millet on the stone and cook ugali, also known as polenta. Then they’d go in the garden, take some vegetables and cook. And we’d have some impalas and dried meat in the pots, and cook. We just cook and eat and sleep and life goes on.

   So I loved the bush from when I was young. I still think that was the best life I had.

—Peter Chatama

[bornhereproject]

BORN: SEATTLE

I was born in Seattle, both literally and in many other ways.

   When I was born, my family only stayed in Seattle for about a year and a half. We then lived all over the country so I don’t really have roots anywhere. I lived in Texas for about six years with my exboyfriend. Three years ago, we moved back to Seattle when he got a job at Microsoft. I didn’t want the relationship to end so I came with him. Since then we’ve broken up. But now, I really am on my own. It’s like being born again!

—Taylor Sargologos