It Happened On A Sunday

This site-specific audiovisual and movement work examines the relationship between archival material, oral history, and embodied memory. Centered on the 1967 Good Shepherd Center fire and the story of the girl who allegedly started it from within, the work treats historical detail as both source material and method, activating remembrance through physical presence while questioning the role of historical documentation.

The project began as a collaboration between Chari Smith and Sadaf Sadri, following the discovery of recorded oral histories at the Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI) in Seattle, WA. The collaboration later expanded to include Nia-Amina Minor and Akoiya Harris, whose contributions in dance and movement extended the work’s exploration of memory through the body. The piece was first performed in March 2023 at the Chapel at Good Shepherd Center, the original site of the 1967 fire.