"Untitled" Work in Progress 

This project began as an exploration into my mother's past and her upbringing in the small town of Sincelejo, Colombia. My mother has been slowly and sporadically writing a memoir about her childhood in this small town and in it she recounts the reasons why she decided to leave and never go back. Even though I was born and raised in Bogota, Colombia just a plane ride away from Sincelejo, I've always been estranged and separated from this place and my mother's family. After reading her manuscript a couple of years ago I felt strangely connected to the town, the stories and the people she writes about. I realized there was an entire side of my mother that I barely knew, so I decided to go back and reconnect with that side of my roots. 

I left Colombia when I was 18 years ago and I've been living in Brooklyn, NY for almost a decade. With time, I've come to realize that deciding to go back and dive into my mother's past has been a quest for my own identity and a search for my home country of Colombia. 

 

 

 

santosjosefina.com/