Are you comfortable? Comfortable with who you are, where you’ve come from and where you’re heading? Do you belong to a group, or are you an outsider? Jason Sweeney, Nicola Connor and Daniel Clarke have crafted a beautifully simple but very affecting experience that explores the idea of ‘the other’, and how it feels when what’s normal to you may not necessarily be normal to the rest of the population.

After gathering in the foyer, the audience is guided to enter the installation space as a group. We make our way to the small, sparsely decked out ‘departure lounge’ where white, panelled walls enclose a seating area. Envelopes have been placed randomly on top of a collection of wooden benches. We are invited to open these envelopes, read the contents and, if we wish, to take the letters with us when we leave.

A recorded voice within the electronic soundscape issues instructions, tells us how to behave, asks us to imagine we have ten minutes to describe ourselves in as much detail as possible. Could we do it? A fluctuation in the lighting signals change.

Over the public address system a diverse range of speakers share brief excerpts from personal journeys, and their honesty is immediately engaging. The introductions make us want to hear more, and it’s pleasing when each voice returns again and again to add to the stories. What is it like to be gay in Germany, Russia or the Philippines? How does it feel to be singled out because of ethnicity, or sexual orientation, or to be invisible in your own community?

Hissing, tapping and snatches of piano music augment the spoken words. The mood shifts constantly, as the anecdotes share moments of humour along with painful observations on loss, exclusion and the frustration of having to deal with the inaccurate assumptions of others.

Journey’s Made more than lives up to its blurb, and is an original, innovative installation piece with heart.

Presented by Feast in association with UNIDOS, Waterside Workers Hall until November 19.