The Measure of our Traveling Feet

Paulien Oltheten

The Measure of our Traveling Feet
25.9—27.11.2016
at Marres, Centre for Contemporary Culture in Maastricht

Large numbers of migrants are risking their lives in order to enter Europe. We see images of small boats afloat at sea, men in helmets and a deluge of drowned refugees. We hear about illegal settlements, desperate families and ruthless smugglers. The journeys of these refugees stand in stark contrast to the free movement of inhabitants of the European Union. While the world seems within arm’s reach to Europeans because of the euro, the open borders and the cheap airline tickets, the continent is becoming a closed fortress from the outside. Discussions revolve around migration, social inequality and the moving of feet that has always been part and parcel of these issues.

Société Réaliste

The exhibition The Measure of our Traveling Feet focuses on the social and cultural significance of migration. What does the world beyond the border have to offer? In which ways does travel change the past and alter identities? Paulien Oltheten has documented her journey on current and historical routes from eastern and central Europe to the west. Shilpa Gupta immerses us in the confusion that is typical of arrival in an unfamiliar environment, while Mounira Al Solh intimately captures migrants' stories.

Mircea Cantor

The exhibition title derives from a poem by the Irish poet W.B. Yeats (1865-1939) about the changing rhythm of life in modern England during the Industrial Revolution. How does the flow of refugees accelerate today's pace, and how does it relate to the routes we ourselves traverse?
Participating artists: Francis Alÿs, Anca Benera & Arnold Estefan, Tudor Bratu, Mircea Cantor, Juliana Cerqueira Leite, Shilpa Gupta, Roza El-Hassan, Paulien Oltheten, Wouter Osterholt & Ingrid Hapke, Société Réaliste, Mounira Al Solh, Zsófia Szemző and World Service Authority®.

The exhibition is curated by Laura Mudde and Claire van Els.

http://www.marres.org
text: Marres.nl / images: brankopopovicblog

The Refugee Nation

A nation to pay a tribute to the refugee athletes in the Olympics, and all refugees in the world.

Every nation is represented with a flag, but what about the ten refugees competing at the Rio Olympics under the aegis of Refugee Nation. So the Syrian artist and refugee Yara Said set about designing the team's new flag, characterized by allover safety orange and a single black stripe — inspired by that symbol of many asylum-seekers' harrowing journey, the lifejacket.

The Refugee Nation project, with support from Amnesty International, has also produced a logo for the refugee athletes in black or orange on white, as well as a national anthem, written by composer and Syrian refugee Moutaz Arian.

Our flag was designed and made by Yara Said, an artist and Syrian refugee now living in Amsterdam. After graduating at the Faculty of Fine Arts at Damascus University, Yara had to leave her own country to search for a safer place to live.
 "A black and orange (colors of the life vests) is a symbol of solidarity for all those who crossed the sea in search of a new country. I myself wore one, which is why I so identify with these colors—and these people." - Yara Said

http://www.therefugeenation.org 

Common Carnaval Maastricht

On February 7th Common Carnaval project took part of the official Carnaval Maastricht parade. This was truly an unforgettable experience where the true meaning of Carnaval was brought to daylight under thousands of people who cheered along the parade. FASHIONCLASH took part at the project, mostly helping development of costumes with the fashion designer Ebby Port. The outcome was a splendid colorful clash material representing various cultures of the world. From now on Carnaval is always have a special place in my heart.

Carnaval is one of (if not) the most powerful rituals known to our city. Maastricht cherishes its customs. Both old and new traditions exist right next to one another. It's all a matter of giving each other space. This is what makes Maastricht a good city to live in, to live life in and to visit.
 'Carnaval' is one of the oldest of these traditions. The ritual that culminates in the days of the carnaval festival is built from a wide variety of events: Gatherings of people, in large or small numbers, even when 'Vastelaovend' (the Limburgian name for Carnaval) is still just a date on the calendar we look forward to. Creating costumes, building a float, playing music, having food and drinks. We do all of these things together, as a group.
The theme of the Maastrichtian Vastelaovend is to connect, through ‘Plezeer & Sjariteit’, through fun and charity.
‘Common Carnaval’ is a project by, for and with citizens of Maastricht, those born to the city as well as refugees and newcomers. The refugees haven't just left their city, village or home. When they fled they had to leave the belongings, the moments, and the locations that shaped their every day life behind. They also left their shared rituals: the celebrations they shared with family, friends, neighborhoods, cities or even an entire country.
One of the pillars of the 'Mestreechter Geis', the pride of any Maastrichtian, is the tolerant way of life.

This is why Common Carnaval was initiated as a wholehearted welcome for all refugees.
"We want to meet them, help them participate, and make them feel included in our community.We can do this by sharing our rituals bound to the Carnaval with them. By inviting them to create costumes together, by building objects and a float together, and by taking part in the parade together."

Core value of celebrating Carnaval is questioning society and every one's social role in a humorous, curious, and respectful manner. Therefore a temporary Carnaval's Society was formed, a union that was led by a refugee-Prince (Ali from Syria) and a Princess Carlene who is 'ein vaan us' (Limburgian: one of us, referring to the people who speak the Maastricht dialect). The traditional ‘Council of eleven' leading, consisted of a number of young Maastrichtians, some young artists and a few young refugees or asylum seekers.
During the preparation fase this council tried to connect all inhabitants of Maastricht through the use of mild humor. In the meantime the project received major media attention throughout the country offering a platform for a positive dialogue of intergration.

picture by Jonathan Vos

Origin of Common Carnaval 
The very first draft of the idea to build a float came into being at Zuyd Hogeschool: iArts students named Tess Elschot, Jasper Wüller, Gerold Sewcharan, Raki Eckstein-Kovacs worked on a project adressing the current issue of refugees under the guidance of music theater company 'Het Geluid Maastricht' . After a conversation with 'de Tempeleers' and after receiving a letter of recommendation from mayor Annemarie Penn - Te Strake, 'Het Geluid Maastricht' and 'Bureau Europa' have thought about how to apply the project citywide by attracting multiple partners. Furthermore they embraced the idea of 'commoning', to put development and production processes in the hands of a communal network in order to use a collective way of working where civilians and professional organisations provide added value towards society as a whole. The goal here is to stimulate an increasing level of social involvement. In a project that connects societal, performative and designpractices.

Common  Carnaval is made possible by:
Stichting Elisabeth Strouven Stichting Kanunnik Salden Nieuwenhof, iArts Maastricht, Not Just A Number, Het Geluid Maastricht, FASHIONCLASH, Dear Hunter, COA, Bureau Europa, HS Zuyd, Tout Maastricht, Code 043, Gemeente Maastricht, Studio Noto
http://www.commoncarnaval.nl/

Photo report by brankopopovicblog

M.I.A. — Borders

Rap artist M.I.A (Maya Arulpragasam) releases self-directed video for new track Borders that follows refugees on hazardous journey to Europe, as lyrics chastise governments’ failure to act