Child of Contraband

So Ladies & Gents,

I've been working on a project with my longtime friend, Abbas Somji, who is currently doing his M.A in Communication & Culture at York University. He decided to do a short video project on my spoken word piece, "Child of Contraband", as it highlights many of the issues he will explore in his main thesis--South Asian Canadian identity, transnationalism, belonging and not belonging--

Here's the description of the video project in his own words:

An artist’s perpetual struggle involves trying to define themselves without confining themselves to a particular label.

For Toronto-born spoken word artist, Sheniz Janmohamed, it's a tricky balancing act. A hybrid of African, South Asian, and Canadian culture, Sheniz grapples with her eclectic identity through poetry, using it as an outlet to express her longing to belong.

This short film is a visual interpretation of her poem, "Child of Contraband," and follows Sheniz as she traverses through her hometown, remarking on parts of the city that speak to her different cultural sides.

Check out the video below!

Child of Contraband