Israel’s script moves between Tamil, her native language, and Hindi and English, poetically exploring the nature of translation and what it is to navigate borders.

The Nature of Difference is informed by Israel’s own lived experience, which she describes as being on the margins of multiple communities. Born in southern India to a Tamil-speaking Christian household but growing up in the northern capital city of Delhi meant that she spoke multiple languages on a daily basis. Tamil was reserved for conversing with family in the home, Hindi on the streets, ‘Hinglish’ with friends, and English her language of formal education. Ironically, while she experienced a degree of racism in Delhi where ‘Madrasi’ (a pejorative term for a person from southern India) was a frequent term of abuse on the streets, her father insisted that Tamil was the ‘sweetest and best’ language in the world. Her Hebrew name has been the source of much confusion or amusement to those who first encounter her, as ‘Hephzibah’ does not fit neatly into cultural stereotypes or borders of race, religion or nationality. These early experiences of hybrid identities, of moving across visible and invisible borders, permeate her writing. 

For a full description of the event, visit the Talbot Rice Gallery official website: https://www.trg.ed.ac.uk/exhibition/hephzibah-israel-maolaipaeyarapapau-nature-difference