The power of art in keeping our identity alive

Gabriela Sobreira, a Brazilian multidisciplinary artist, based in Bristol/UK, speaks about how music helped her overcome some barriers, such as family nostalgia, in her migration journey.

by Gabriela Sobreira

When you migrate, people don’t tell you about how the journey can depend on your circumstances,  so if you start from zero, every day can be like the first day in a new school. 

I found myself saying to myself “I chose to be here, just get over it.” But then, why am I losing myself? It was really hard for me to accept that migration had changed me. 

The thing about losing yourself comes from various reasons. I want to say that everything you knew is gone, you are alone, and you don’t feel part of your family and friends’ lives anymore, it’s like you need to start everything from scratch, it’s like building/having to build a new you to try to fit into a new space. 

So there arose the point that I needed something to keep me grounded, to remind me of who I was, where I came from, and also why I am here. Music and art allowed me to do that. 

Ok, I will explain. I saw this video once, it was about this music project in a nursing home where they use music as therapy for elderly people that suffer from seizures, Alzheimer’s and different types of conditions, and music helped unresponsive bodies to come alive again.

When they heard a song that was a part of their memories, their state changed dramatically, they started to sing, dance, talk… They remembered who they were only because of the power of music.

I always loved music and art, but I didn’t know that could help me to be close to my own self again. So I started to play songs that reminded me of my family, my friends, songs that brought/would bring me memories from my childhood, even Brazilian songs that I didn’t like much or care about before, this brought me close to my roots, and let me remember everything I was.

This also made me more confident to be myself because music and art reminded me that my culture is beautiful, that I don’t need to change my accent, my actions, my clothes, my body or whatever to fit in. The acceptance of my identity through art played a big role in helping me not to give up. 

So, when you move to another country, volunteer or otherwise, is really important to keep your culture alive inside, not be ashamed of what or who you were before, because who you were made you resilient and strong enough to go through everything. 

Be strong and stay true to yourself, because change is not worth it, what actually needs to be changed is integration and inclusion, what needs to be changed are the politics, but this is another subject for another time.