NYU Student Holly Farkas Reflects on her Experience with BTWOHH
People often talk about language barriers affecting their ability to interact with another person. And while it can be argued that speaking the same language is the most effective way to understand another person, I’ll argue that there are not only more ways, but much more powerful ways. By the Work of Her Hands introduced to us, a new way of communication in which language falls to the background and becomes extremely insignificant. Through this beautiful exchange of artistry and skill we watched as women from Morocco and New York, cut off from each other in language and culture, came together to explore what they saw as their dominant art forms. As these women sought out their peer’s attention and proved that the intricate details on fabric could knit them closer together than words, we could sense the energy and respect building between all of them. Traveling to Morocco marked the introduction of all these possibilities, but coming together in New York and Philadelphia and seeing their love and respect grow deeper proved to me that art and passion will bring people together in a way that words cannot. While words fail us over and over, we have all witnessed a new language where love, pain, respect, and ones thoughts can be tied together with strength.
- Holly Farkas
