'A Mile in My Shoes' invites visitors to walk in someone else’s shoes and connect by listening to their story.
Highlights:
- The unique project provides an insight into the lives of migrants
- Thirty people feature in it with their shoes and recorded stories
- It is a free event and is a part of the Sydney festival
Melbourne lawyer Molina Asthana - whose shoes and story features in this - said this unique project provides insight into the lives of migrants.
“It is about taking a moment to see the world through another person’s eyes," she told SBS Hindi. The project also provides an opportunity to know about diverse migrants' extraordinary experiences.
Visitors are invited into a kind of 'giant shoebox' installed outdoors, to try on someone else’s shoes. An audio recording helps understand where that person came from and what has shaped their personal story.
Exhbition 'A Mile in my shoes' in Sydney Festival Source: Molina Asthana
The stories of migrants' experience are a mixed bag of love, loss sadness, hope, and the odds one had to overcome.
Asthana says Australia is known for its unique multicultural society.
Source: Supplied
"There are stories of immigrants’ extraordinarily diverse experiences. Projects like this promote empathy and compassion.”
We all have stories to share, It’s a chance to focus on what connects us.
Her sports shoes are featured along with her audio story in the exhibition, and her story is about bringing change through sports and women's empowerment.
Asthana is a regular participant in marathons and says it has brought a change in her own life and a realisation about the importance of sports in life.
Source: Molina Asthana
I feel if migrant women participate in sports, they will have confidence; their resettlement experience will be better; they will make friends and will have a support system just like a family.
Her own experience paved way for her ‘not for profit Multicultural women in sports’ to help other migrant women.
“I am trying to bring change in people’s lives with my work," she said.
"I have also been working with sports authorities on how to eliminate discrimination at any level and bring positivity around.”
Source: Supplied
Asthana added all these joint efforts have brought a change in the lives of many women - a change she says is visible and evident.
‘Women's sports have changed a lot over the period. We all have witnessed it in the media etc. Last year, we witnessed record attendance in the Women’s Cricket Cup,” she said.
There is a saying ‘You can’t understand someone until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes,’ and this exhibition is about taking an empathetic journey into the lives of storytellers.
The exhibition features 35 engaging audio stories with their names and a pair of shoes. The visitors walk a short distance listening to their unique stories.
A Mile in My Shoes has also travelled to London, Sao Paulo, New York, Riga, Denver, Perth and Melbourne.
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