Podcast: “mi mamá me dijo/ my mama told me”

'mi mamá me dijo/ my mama told me' is a participatory art project by Alva Mooses. This multimedia project is composed of audio recordings, photographs of personal objects, and handwritten notes culminating in a limited edition print and artist book.

This project was made possible with support from a City Artist Corps Grant and additional support from The Center for Book Arts, the Lower East Side Printshop, and The Clemente Center.

Working within the local context of the Prospect Lefferts Gardens neighborhood, Alva connected with people willing to share their stories, personal objects, and perspectives related to motherhood and migration. They discussed maternal figures related to diasporas, mother tongues or lack thereof, generational trauma, and the need for healing.

In the audio recording, you will hear from four people that immigrated to New York:

Clints, a singer who shares a beautiful song in Haitian Kreyol called grandmother.

Haisi, an artist and animator, tells us about how she received her name, born into a family of poets and artists in China.

Reyna, a caretaker and mother talks about the significance of artesanal objects from Mexico that she brought with her when she immigrated with her family to the US.

Tomoko, a jazz violinist, tells about her practice merging Japanese folk melodies with New York jazz and her upcoming musical composition based on motherhood.

Many thanks to the many mothers, friends, and family who lent me their trust and shared their stories.

And thank you to Mauricio Cortes Ortega, Marisa Rojiblanco, Mirene Arsanios, Sophie Immamura, Sarah Frankie Sigman for the generous support.

Food for the public component to this project was provided by Loudbaby Cafe, Ix Restaurant, and Errol's Caribbean Delights.

Musical intro and audio engineering by Doug Berns at Fenimore Studios in October of 2021. The limited edition print was created at Powerhouse Arts.