"It is impossible to extend the field of consciousness without extending the field of shadow. Each group and cultural circle we belong to has its norms, its values, its ideals and consequently its own shadow. This is what I call the Black Shadow... There is another shadow, however, a White Shadow that we cannot encompass. We encounter this shadow when a silence, a secret, something which cannot be named by one or both of the parents creates a blank, a hole in the psyche. This is in contrast to the repressed experience which would create a black stain, a shadow with a shape." Martine Drahon Gallard, Black Shadow-White Shadow, in The Archetype of Shadow in a Split World, Proceedings of the 10th International Congress for Analytical Psychology, Berlin, 1987.

​

We are developing a second co-creation site around the project of tracing the impacts of war across generations via these White Shadows. My writing project, The White Shadow Trilogy, developed in response to the White Shadows present in my own family. Over the years as I have talked about this project to other people, I have discovered that the vast majority of people, at least in both North America and Europe, have in their family background "secrets" of this type, and almost nobody talks about them. And yet, their impact on contemporary life, by all the evidence, appears to be profound. 

​

Out of this project, and in parallel with the development of the co-creation site for Tales from the Humanitat, the idea emerged to create a similar site for this project of unveiling the White Shadows we carry in our families and engaging in discussions about their impacts on our contemporary lives. This second site will note be as interactive, however, its purpose is different. The goal is to create a repository of documents that "bring to the surface" these silences, secrets and things "which cannot be named" so as to discuss them in the light of day.

​

Currently, we are seeking funding to develop the project further.

​