This project is a first part of an artistic research into the cultural memory and official archives of the Sakha people. Through film, textiles, and sculpture, archival materials are reimagined, blending personal and collective stories that linger on imposed silences and gaps. Rather than filling these absences, the work embraces (im)permanence, (in)stability, and (in)completeness. These counter-archives challenge the authority of official narratives, drawing out the silences that hang dense with affect and inviting connections with the unstable, refracted fragments of memory that refuse to be resolved or forgotten. Similar distortions and adaptations of memories are also central to the (title), for which al-yené travelled to her homeland to collect video material, audio recordings, interviews and research in collaboration with indigenous communities. The film blends narrated memories, archival footage, and computer-generated imagery, creating a dialogue about history, identity and cultural memory.

made with the support of Cousin Collective