Something Dead must still be Declared Dead

2026, Installation of funeral shrine with video work

“To be allowed to return to my birth country, I had to formally give up ownership of its nationality.
A nationality that I had already lost at the time of my adoption. A nationality that I likely will never get back.”

With a symbolic funeral, official documents and stamps become relics that make tangible
a loss that many adoptees experience. How do you say goodbye to a life that was never voluntarily relinquished? And when is there room for grief without the fear of seeming ungrateful?