Where do I belong, and what truly shapes our sense of self? Inês Da Silva Aguiar explores the fragile and complex nature of identity in The House of Self, a work influenced by her ethnically mixed background and upbringing on a politically divided island. Through personal reflection and conversations with her family, she reveals the challenges of navigating languages and cultures, and captures the experience of living between different worlds.

The foundation of her installation is composed of textiles from her heritage, creating a tangible, domestic atmosphere that evokes both comfort and memories. As a visitor, you can physically enter the house, where Da Silva Aguiar presents herself and her family using passport photos. She combines images from different stages of life to explore how identity changes over time. These portraits reveal the tension between personal identity and the external labels imposed by authorities.

Embroidered quotes from her and her family, written in English, Turkish, and Portuguese, adorn the exterior of the house and reflect on identity, the loss of a sense of belonging, and the way language fades and distorts over time. While the texts remain legible from the outside, the embroideries inside become fragmented, reflecting the gradual disappearance of language and the complex nature of identity in today's globalized and nuanced world.