Monika Gabriela Dorniak is a German-Polish interdisciplinary artist, who draws upon her background in choreography, psychology, and fashion design along with her story of intergenerational trauma to create meaningful art. We had the pleasure of speaking with her to understand how she has mastered the art of taking trauma and making it into something positive.

Monika explained the confusing and painful process of unpacking her pain, which also involved exploring her family’s history. She said, “It's interesting because I think a lot of people have had intergenerational trauma, where family members experienced something that continues to impact you, and so to actually understand your hurt, you also have to understand the trauma your family’s history brought into your life.”

In 2015, Monika was forced to confront her traumas once again when learning more about the Syrian Refugee crisis, and she knew she had to do something about it. “I realized I understand what they were going through, and this led me to different sociopolitical and activists projects, where I was trying to help. I understood I was in this privileged situation, where I was now inside of a safe country, and I knew what it feels like to be treated as another person and needed to do something about it,” she said.  

With this in mind, Monika started working with the Our Blood Project, which is a non-profit designed to raise awareness about the global refugee crisis through artwork—spreading messages of equality and solidarity. Our Blood is manifested by a collaborative sculpture made by Marc Quinn and more than 10,000 people - half of whom are refugees, and the other half non-refugees.

She reflected on her experience with Our Blood and said, “It’s fascinating to have met so many people from so many different countries, where very bad things have happened. They have always had the strength to carry on, and I think this is something which I love, and which also motivates me to do this work.”

Something that we also discussed was the importance of stepping outside of your “bubble” in order to understand people’s differences, while also finding elements of shared history—something that we at Umuco Love are always trying to do. Monika said, “I think one of the biggest mistakes is to stay always in these bubbles…Throughout my life, I've actually realized how important it is to confront and connect with people that we also feel are different.” 

We couldn’t agree more, and we hope you take the time to listen to the rest of Monika’s story here on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Written by Isabella Harnick