Rinsing The Bones

“Rinsing the Bones explores the ongoing generational impact of displacement. My experience of unpacking the residual effects of being born stateless to Jewish Soviet refugees has led me to research how unspoken pain, losses, and traumas have been passed on to generations who are only indirectly aware of their forebearers’ ordeals. This residue is often borne out for their descendants in physical and mental consequences. The title is a translation of the Russian expression перемывать косточки, which originates from an ancient Slavic reburial rite in which the deceased was exhumed and ritually cleansed as their relatives recounted all the good and the bad they had done in their lives, thus ensuring their soul’s release. I believe this ritual was just as important for the surviving family as for the deceased, because we are bound to live in reaction to the triggers buried in our bones without understanding their underlying cause unless we acknowledge the complexities and nuances of who we are through what our families have endured. As I have experienced in my family, these conversations are challenging to initiate and can require the outside catalyst of a trusted facilitator to break the silence. Through this project, I have offered to be this person for others. The Wende Museum hosted community-based workshops in which collaborators provided the content of this work. Together, we unearthed, traced, and revealed the meta-narratives that bridge our disparate histories, bringing into focus the pattern of gaps resulting from displacement and the complexity of the word ‘home’ as an uncertain, unstable space located outside the frame of nostalgia.” —Jenny Yurshansky