While walking into the Wandering House, many people pondered what it meant to be home.
The Wandering House is made from an ice-fishing house. It was made into an audio-recording studio.
When people step into the house they are given the opportunity to anonymously speak about prompts given.
All prompts relate to the idea of home.
The prompt, “I know I’m home when…” was what artist Cecilia Cornejo wanted people to reflect on.
Cornejo is a documentary filmmaker, and this was a step outside of her comfort zone. She wanted there to be anonymity in this project.
“Being a documentary filmmaker, I wasn’t sure how I could do this because I wanted to give people anonymity. The house did that,” she said.
Before volunteers step into the house, Cornejo walks through some of the questions and the prompts with them.
Once people step inside, they are left to reflect on those questions alone.
“I knew I wanted a prompt that would make people slow down and reflect,” she said.
The Wandering House was first placed in Lanesboro and then it moved to Northfield.
Red Wing was the third stop for the project.
At the Anderson Center the exhibit is entitled, “Threads of Connection and Belonging.”
After each project, volunteers from the community were able to continue participating. Cornejo wanted something visual to add to the project.
The quilts that are hung in the gallery at the Anderson Center came after the recordings were sifted through.
Cornejo chose sentences for people to embroider on squares that were then added to a large quilt.
She plans to do the same for Red Wing.
The project is rooted in community, and it was only appropriate that the community was part of it in every way.
“I think during COVID a lot of people wanted to participate in the project and the quilts helped it come together,” Cornejo said. “I hope that is comes together in Red Wing too.”
In the exhibit people are able to listen to the audio from Lanesboro and Northfield on an interactive touch screen.
The touch screens have pictures of the quilts, and by touching on one of the panels the quilt comes to life with the audio from the original speaker.
There are other ways to listen in the gallery. There is a speaker that onlookers can stand under, and there are two televisions with headphones and transcripts for people to explore.
The exhibit will be on display at the Anderson Center until July 30.
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