Kyra Shaughnessy is a Quebec-based singer-songwriter and spoken word poet. Paroles de Paix (Words of Peace) is a video shot after the release of her fourth album, Passage, in 2016. The video was inspired by the piece "The Artist is Present" presented by Serbian performance artist Marina Abramovic at the MoMa in 2010. For the video Kyra invited a collection of complete strangers to practice presence through gazing into each others eyes. The lyrics of the song are a prayer to the universe where the artist asks for the strength to stand up for what she believes in, to be a messenger of peace I troubled times. The act of gazing into strangers eyes is, for Kyra, a practice in recognizing our essential interconnectedness, being able to see our reflection in the eyes of others and accepting people as they are...all fundamental aspects of "peacemaking" the world over.
Twitter Handle: kyrashaughnessy
