Carmine's House

Dian Zi

Experience life through the eyes of Carmine, a son, a brother, an adult with autism.

This installation was a part of HEAR & NOW: An Interactive Oral History Exhibit, showcasing multimedia projects and stories recorded by the 2017 cohort of Columbia University’s Oral History MA program. 

Come and experience another kind of life in Hawthorne, Florida through the eyes of Carmine, a son, a brother, an adult with autism, and a lover of puzzles. The pop-up house is a recreation of space full of memories, installed with the real objects in Carmine's life, and animated by oral histories with Carmine's family members and friends.

Originally from Shanghai, China, Dian Zi joins the 2017 OHMA cohort as a recent graduate of Sarah Lawrence College where she concentrated in History and Public Policy. Her interest in oral history stems from her curiosity about her family's experience during the Cultural Revolution. For her graduate thesis, she is undertaking an oral history project on motherhood and parents who have children with special needs.