ZUHAUSE/HOME

People with experiences of flight and migration often create a new home in temporary forms of housing such as container villages. At the same time, they remain connected to their homeland through memories and contacts with those “back home,” while seeking ways to live out their cultural everyday needs.

In a workshop at Kunsthalle Tübingen, I invited participants from Afghanistan, Albania, Armenia, Turkey, Iraq, Lebanon, Nigeria, and Pakistan to share memories of a home, to explore mental images of their current (hybrid) home, and to imagine visions of a future form of living. These individual ideas were captured in a collective large-scale drawing and documented in a video – both as a creative process and as a vision of communal life.

Menschen mit Flucht- und Migrationserfahrung schaffen sich meist in temporären Wohnformen wie Containerdörfern ein neues Zuhause. Gleichzeitig bleiben sie über Erinnerungen und Kontakte zu „Daheimgebliebenen“ mit ihrer Heimat verbunden und suchen nach Möglichkeiten, ihre kulturellen Alltagsbedürfnisse zu leben. In einem Workshop in der Kunsthalle Tübingen lud ich Teilnehmer*innen aus Afghanistan, Albanien, Armenien, Türkei, Irak, Libanon, Nigeria und Pakistan ein, Erinnerungen an ein Zuhause zu teilen, mentale Bilder eines derzeitigen (hybriden) Zuhauses zu erkunden und Visionen einer zukünftigen Wohnform zu imaginieren. Diese individuellen Vorstellungen wurden in einer gemeinsamen großformatigen Zeichnung festgehalten und in einem Video dokumentiert – als kreativer Prozess und als Vision eines kollektiven Zusammenlebens.

In addition, together with the participants, we explored their inner images of home in narrative interviews, which I then translated into drawings. In this way, mental spatial images emerged that make visible both personal sensitivities, hybird identities and the socio-spatial conditions of refugees.

Ergänzend ergründete ich zusammen mit den Teilnehmer*innen in narrativen Interviews deren innere Bilder vom Wohnen, welche ich anschließend in eigene Zeichnungen übersetzte. So entstanden mentale Raumbilder, die persönliche Befindlichkeiten, hybride Identitäten, ebenso wie sozial-räumliche Gegebenheiten Geflüchteter sichtbar machen.

INhabit 2018/2020

In 2018, I collected mental images of home in my INhabit project with the help of around 60 narrative interviews from Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Israel, the Czech Republic, Germany, Thailand, etc. During the lockdown, for many „home“ became a home office. Professional and private activities all took place in the same place. In 2020, I juxtapose the mental images from 2018 with new conversations with the same interviewees. These are presented on posters at bus stops during the festival in the public space „ADAPTACJE"
in Gorzów Wielkopolskie (2021), curated by Marta Gendera.

2018 sammle ich in meinem Projekt „INhabit“ Vorstellungen von Zuhause mithilfe von ca. 60 narrativen Interviews aus Italien, Holland, Belgien, Israel, Tschechien, Deutschland, Thailand etc. Während des Lockdowns wurde das Zuhause für viele zum home office und die beruflichen und privaten Tätigkeiten fanden alle am selben Ort statt. 2020 stelle ich die mentalen Bilder von 2018 erneuten Gesprächen mit denselben Interviewten gegenüber. Diese werden während des Festivals im öffentlichen Raum „Adaptacje“ in Gorzów Wielkopolskie (2021) auf Plakaten an Bushaltestellen präsentiert.

Na fali (Warsaw)

Na fali [1] is the result of a formal analysis of the topographical form of the Princely Garden in Warsaw. The characteristic element of the Warsaw landscape - the layout of the Warsaw Escarpment Skarpa Warszawska and the Poniatowski Bridge - has been transformed into a series of abstract forms, operating with strong colors. Situated in a clearing, the sculpture spreads out in front of the pavilion's terrace, creating not only a recognisable spatial accent, but also a usable piece of plein air furniture for enjoying the summer. Created specifically for the summer pavilion Stacja Mercedes, the realization is a consequence and development of the artist's earlier work. She understands the city as a giant sculpture defined by the movement of its inhabitants. Szymon Żydek, 2013, Curator of the Bęc Zmiana Foundation, Warsaw.

1: pol. fala: wave – poln. byc na fali: to ride the wave / to be "in"

Na fali [1] ist das Ergebnis einer Formanalyse der topografischen Gestalt des Fürstengartens in Warschau. Ein charakteristisches Element der Warschauer Landschaft - die Anlage der Warschauer Weichselböschung Skarpa Warszawska und der Poniatowski-Brücke - wurden mit Hilfe kräftiger Farben in eine Reihe abstrakter Formen verwandelt. In einer Lichtung platziert, breitet sich die Skulptur vor der Terasse des Pavillons aus und bildet nicht nur einen wiedererkennbaren räumlichen Akzent, sondern auch ein benutzbares Pleinair-Möbel zur sommerlichen Erholung. Hergestellt im Hinblick auf den Sommerpavillon Stacja Mercedes steht die Realisierung für die konsequente Weiterentwicklung vorangegangener Arbeiten der Künstlerin. Sie fasst damit die Stadt als riesige Skulptur auf, die sich über die Fortbewegung der Bewohner*innen definiert. Szymon Żydek, 2013, Kurator der Bęc Zmiana Stiftung, Warschau. 1: poln. fala: Welle – poln. byc na fali: auf der Welle reiten / "in" seinThis is a block of text. Double-click this text to edit it.

Na fali to wynik analizy form topograficznego ukształtowania Parku na Książęcem. Charakterystyczny element warszawskiego krajobrazu – układ Skarpy warszawskiej oraz Mostu Poniatowskiego – został przetworzony w ciąg abstrakcyjnych form, operujących mocnymi kolorami. Fala umieszczona na polanie rozpościerającej się przed tarasem pawilonu stanowi nie tylko rozpoznawalny akcent przestrzenny, ale również użyteczny mebel plenerowy umożliwiający letni odpoczynek w słońcu. Stworzona specjalnie z myślą o pawilonie Stacji Mercedes realizacja stanowi konsekwencję i rozwinięcie wcześniejszych działań artystki traktującej miasto jako ogromną rzeźbę zdefiniowaną przez ruch jego mieszkańców. Szymon Żydek, 2013, Kurator Fundacji Bęc Zmiana, Warszawa

Na Fali (Warsaw), 2013, steel, paint (9 modules), each up to 70 x 130 x 170 cm

remembered site of the Vistula bank, with the Poniatowski bridge (Warsaw), 2015, pencil and coloured pencil/pens on paper, 15 x 30 cm

The site of the Summer Pavilion is located directly on the important link - the Poniatowski Bridge - between western Warsaw and Praga to the east of the Vistula. The bridge not only crosses the Vistula, but also directs traffic over a long stretch of the Powiśle district in the river valley. Here, the city has been organically adapted to the topography, with an almost uninterrupted bushy slope down to the river. The woody slope towards the river valley has been preserved almost in its entirety, creating a green strip from south to north, which can be walked along. On this green slope, directly under the Poniatowski Bridge, is a romantic garden, the so-called Park na Książcem (Prince's Garden). Slightly overgrown, winding and playful, it cascades down the slope towards the Vistula River, separating the centre of Warsaw above from Powiśle on the waterfront below. With the sound of traffic almost always filtering through, high arches of the bridge provide a link to the city centre in this garden. Both this topographical interface and the eastern bank of the Vistula, which has remained quite naturally green, are important oases for lingering and meeting friends. These green strips–strips because they stretch along the length of the Vistula–give the urban structure air to breathe. The Poniatowski Bridge, the crucial link between east and west, overrides the topographical shape and creates a pulsation between the two sides of the city and the riverbank. The seating sculpture picks up on this oscillation between the neighbourhoods, the ever-increasing convergence, as well as the slope towards the river, here as a place to sit and rest. The interplay of colours expresses the feeling of dynamism and energy that immediately prevails in the city. Colours that confront each other, bringing together different poles. The initial form of a ‘bridge’ of nine modules can be put together in a wide variety of combinations, inviting you to change the form, to design it yourself, to create something new from the given. The colours and shapes thus also relate directly to Katarzyna Kobro, whose works deal with the interpenetration of space and sculpture.

Bubble (A. A., 2021)

A. A. is a writer and dentist born in Deir Ezzor, Syria. He grew up in the Ar Raqqa region, which is characterized by a cultural and linguistic intermingling. In Damascus he pursued his studies and his profession. After a short stay in Mauritania, A. A. left Syria forever in 2013 and fled to Germany via Beirut (2015). In 2018, his family came to Germany. After successful language courses and medical exams, A. A. works now in Berlin as a dentist.

With A. A., we had our first space/biography conversation in 2016. Later we met again in 2021 and 2023. In continuing conversations we reflect on the changes in spatial biographical perceptions. In this drawing series from 2021, we can follow reflexions on geopolitical caesuras and social structures.

Dream: dissolve the bubble (dt: Traum: die Blase aufzulösen), (conversation with A.A., 02.12.2021), pencil and coloured pencil on paper, 21 x 29,7 cm

Zuhause (A. A., 2023)

With A. A., we had our first space/biography conversation in 2016. Later we met again in 2021, 2022 and 2023. In continuing conversations we reflected on the changes in spatial biographical perceptions, . In this drawing series from 2023, we can follow reflexions on relations between memories and the feeling of home, the language and translocal and transnational social spaces.

Heutiges Leben: Erinnerungen in der Zukunft.

Erinnerungen als Zuhause. Viele Icons auf Desktop.

Die Wohnung hat viele Ecken, so wie das Gehirn.

Rome

2018, Adele Giacoia related the city Rome with the meaning of home and described it as a large, open labyrinth structure of books that you can walk through. 2020, the same city, Rome, was still connected with the meaning of „home“, but now Adele Giacoia created a mental image of a DNA-like structure, where you could only walk through mentally with the help of your memory.

Inhabit 2018/2020: During my residency and exhibition at the Triennale di Milano, 2018, I collected, in the form of narrative interviews, over 60 mental images of home, from people from Europe, Taiwan, Israel, etc. During the pandemic lockdown 2020, for many people, the home became the home office. Professional and private activities took all place in the same place. I met my interviewees of 2018 again, this time virtually, and I asked for their current mental image of home in times of pandemic lockdown. Transformed into drawings, the contrasts between the ideas of home from 2018 and 2020 are presented on posters at bus stops during the festival in public space "Adaptacje" in Gorzów Wielkopolskie, 2021.

Wortschatz. Arabische Sprache

Deutsche Sprache als kultureller Erfahrungsschatz (Kinder)

Arabische Sprache als kultureller Erfahrungsschatz (Kinder)