Atong Atem is a Melbourne based fine arts student who takes photos exploring the cultural identities of first and second-generation African migrants in Australia.
About:
“There are days where I feel I know my identity and I’m really strong in it, and then there are days where I think, who am I in this world?
I think it’s cool to recognise that a lot of people have those experiences – not just in relation to cultural identity, but gender and sexuality and other aspects in life. Being a Third Culture Kid, means recognising there’s a space that exists between the culture we’re from and the culture we’re living in. I at times feel not South Sudanese enough, or not Australian enough.
I have to accept that I’ll never either or both: those ideas are completely fabricated from outside of myself. For a lot of people who realise they exist in that in-between space, it’s upsetting because you’re neither this nor that. But being a third culture kid means we can be whatever we want and when we recognise that, it’s empowering.” (from site of Atong Atem)
(copyright: the photographer)