Contributed by photographer Kim Simpson and playwright Hannah Lavery
Girls and their Mothers by Kim Simpson
Celebrating multiracial families in Scotland
Kim Simpson, Girls and Their Mothers Exhibition, 2015, Image courtesy: Kim Simpson
“Scotland as a country has such strong national iconology, that the idea of what a Scottish person may or may not look like can be pre-programmed.”
-Kim Simpson
The exhibition ‘Girls and their Mothers’ by Kim Simpson looks at the complex identity of multiracial individuals, a visually underrepresented group in Scotland. Instead of questioning their ancestry or scrutinizing their appearance, Kim chose to photograph girls and women of mixed heritage and their mothers with an intent on questioning social perception. The images display their relationships, linking these girls and their mothers together while at the same time respecting their disparity.
Kim Simpson, Girls and Their Mothers Exhibition, 2015, Image courtesy: Kim Simpson
The Drift by Hannah Lavery
Excerpt from The Drift :
Standing by the map in your cold Edinburgh classroom- 1956?
The teacher has asked you,
the only brown boy?
Where you from son?
Sir?
Where you from?
Here, you say
smacked down
strike one.
Where you from?
You say here
smacked down
strike two
tear sprung.
Where are you from boy?