While participating in the National Theatre School’s Art Apart program, Veronique West began conceptualizing the digital component of Szepty/Whispers. Veronique created a webpage featuring multimedia fragments from their family archive, with support from dramaturg Kathleen Flaherty and production assistant Shania Smagh, as well as mentorship from Sherry Yoon. Veronique also created an interactive element, where visitors could contribute family secrets to a growing collection.

“My mother grew up in Soviet-controlled Poland, during a time of seismic social and political upheaval. After escaping from her homeland, she rarely spoke about her past and its far-reaching impacts. As I attempt to articulate my ways of being in the world, which have been labeled as mental illness, I find myself seeking out her silences. What can absences, ambiguities, and contradictions transmit across generations? How do these transmissions enable survival, resistance, and complicity? What silences have you inherited?”

‍