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How to belong

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Artwork created by painting over the surface of a black and white photographic print with colourful paint. The artwork shows the original heads of two individuals from the photograph, on the left an adult woman and on the right a young baby. The baby is being held in the adult's arms. Apart from the heads the rest of the image is a painted yellow background covered in small green, orange and blue dots. The individual's clothes are painted differently, the adult's has a green background with wavy orange horizontal lines and pink spots. The baby's is green with pink cell like patterns with red centres.
Belonging and why we long for it. Cressida Lindsay with baby Amanda. © Naomi Vona for Wellcome Collection.

What does it mean to belong? Growing up in an unconventional family in a conservative rural community, Tanya Perdikou has always struggled to feel that she fits in. In this series she makes sense of belonging and why it matters. Over six essays Tanya explores how addiction, racism, place, parenthood and, lately, a global pandemic can shape how and where we feel we belong.

About the contributors

Colour photograph of Tanya Perdikou

Tanya Perdikou

Author

Tanya Perdikou is a freelance writer. She specialises in telling stories of how the human experience intersects with society, nature and travel. Among others, her work has been published by the BBC, the Huffington Post, the Guardian and the Bangkok Post.

Black and white, head and shoulders portrait of Naomi Vona.

Naomi Vona

Artist

Naomi is an Italian artist based in London. She defines herself as an “archival parasite with no bad intentions”. Her works combine photography, collage and illustration, and her research is focused on altering vintage and contemporary found images, creating a new interpretation of the original shots. Using pens, paper, washi tape and stickers, she gives every image new life. Her work is basically composed of three elements: her background, inspirations and subconscious, which are also the glue that pulls everything together.