Shireen

“There's so much that I haven't yet experienced but kind of intuitively know already. So I think my ancestors being farmers and working the land and living on the land… it’s really kind of like ingrained in me.”

Shireen is a London based film-maker, creative and writer who loves nature. She reflects on the longstanding impacts of colonialism on farming communities in the Punjab, the juxtaposition of growing up in London, disconnected from natural landscapes with migrant parents, both of whom are from agricultural backgrounds and have a strong connection to land.

As much as Shireen loves seeking out nature at her doorstep in the city, she appreciates the countryside and what it can do for you creativity, and allow you to question all that you don’t know or think about.

“I think that's kind of where my practice lies in relation to nature as a writer, as a person of color, as queer, as gender non-conforming. I think I I'm really kind of hooked on how much we don't know yet, how much we do intuitively know at the same time.”

Having visited Cuckmere Haven for the first time - Shireen is keen to return to that part of the South Downs again - to once again feel a sense of presence that can be embodied more fully in landscape.

What if we weren't “so swept away by the urgency of living a 9 to 5 in capitalism and being disembodied from ourselves, if we were able to just be ourselves? I think we're really really intuitive people just inherently…”