The Integration Zone is a dystopian VR experience inspired by my years in Saint-Hyacinthe in the early 2000s, before the city became known as one of Quebec’s examples of successful regional integration.

My work returns to that earlier moment. Through a surreal reimagining of my experiences, the viewer follows a biracial girl entering a predominantly white school, where anti-Black hostility and dehumanization are treated not as failures, but as the so-called growing pains of change. I still remember when my mother sought help, the school’s principal replied, “someone has to break the ice.” That sentence became the foundation of this project.

Today, Saint-Hyacinthe is often recognized as a success story of integration. My project asks what that story leaves out. Who carried the burden while the community learned? Who endured the hostility while others later celebrated their openness? I explore how anti-Blackness is upheld not only through institutions, but through ordinary choices. It invites viewers to consider how communities remember change, and who’s missing from that narrative.

Hi, I’m Daphné! I work in marketing, with a background in community development and intercultural relations