Banner Image
Banner Image
Banner Image
Banner Image
Banner Image
Banner Image
Banner Image
Banner Image

Rite of Passage

Evangeline Mensah-Agyekum (2023)

“Rite of Passage” is an ongoing project about the “parentification” of eldest daughters. This first installation, “Rite of Passage: Marker 1”, examines my own personal experiences as an eldest daughter with six younger siblings to Ghanaian immigrants.

 

This project will help us, eldest daughters, to mourn and heal from a childhood lost by confronting how we were made to take on the role and responsibilities of the third parent. As adults, now looking back at our childhoods and this identity that most of us took on with pride, we can come to a better understanding of this nuanced identity while navigating womanhood and expanding our sense of self outside beyond our families. So often we see how sexism and patriarchal values in the immediate familial unit are upheld and their negative impacts swept under the rug. “Rite of Passage” aims to break that cycle by raising awareness of and exploring the challenges faced by eldest daughters.

 

 

As adults, now looking back at our childhoods and this identity that most of us took on with pride, we come to a better understanding of this nuanced identity, navigating womanhood and expanding our sense of self outside of our families. So often, we see how sexism and patriarchal values in the immediate familial unit are upheld and the negative impacts swept under the rug. Through photography, installation, and sculpture, “Rite of Passage” explores this problem of eldest daughters, and in doing so, aims to raise awareness and break this cycle.

This project was shown at Brew House Arts in “Getting the Spirit Out” as part of the Distillery Emerging Artists Program.

This project was made possible by the Frank-Ratchye Further Fund Grant #2023-027. Additional images are available here.

Follow Evangeline on Instagram @evvangelinema

Set Design: Carly Heywood (@carlycaar)

Lighting: Nana Kwabena Effah Raymond (@pixelrayphotography_)

Assists: All of my siblings and parents <3