TRAVELLERS' TALES

"In the world through which I travel I am endlessly creating myself". Frantz Fanon

Most people will at some time in their life make a journey from one place to another. It may be a short trip or it may be a vast distance. It may be voluntary or it may be enforced. Travelling for pleasure used to be an activity only available to the very wealthy but it has become increasingly affordable. However, there are still many people who will never travel beyond their immediate locality.

Artists very often travel to other countries in order to show their work or make a new piece. For some artists the activity of travelling from one place to another, being nomadic, crossing borders and negotiating cultural differences is the subject of their work. A number of artists on this site have made work about travelling, journeys and maps. This kind of work is always time-based because moving from one place to another takes time. Even moving around the globe in cyberspace is effected by time - it may only take seconds to click and download but there are global time differences to consider.

Artists exploring the physical processes of travelling have often made reference to their own personal journeys and these migrations have affected them. David Medalla follows in the footsteps of Medieval artists who commonly travelled for their commissions.

David Medalla - 'Le Flaneur de L'Eurostar', 1996 (1)

• Choose a personal memento and talk about its significance.
• They say 'a rolling stone gathers no moss.' What does that mean?
• What do you carry in your pockets or your bag?
• What are the best things about travelling and what are the worst?
• What are the sounds and smells and textures that remind you of somewhere else

DISCUSS

RESEARCH

BRAINSTORM

DESCRIBE

COMPARE

Mari Mahr - 'Memories of the Land'
(Mezögazdasági Emlék) 1983 (1)

Sometimes people are forced to make journeys, not for work or pleasure, but through political or economic circumstances. Refugees are displaced from the place they consider to be home by war or violence or famine and are forced to live in exile. Sometimes a large number of people are driven out of one country because of their political beliefs or ethnicity. This happened in Europe during the Second World War when Jewish people fled from Nazi persecution and more recently in Rwanda, and in Kosovo.

In these circumstances people have to leave very quickly, often with nothing more than the clothes on their back. Anything they managed to bring with them will become a memento to remind them of home or family far away. Precious objects and cultural rituals can help people locate themselves. Mari Mahr works with objects and photographs of personal and cultural significance, combining them to produce narrative series which often relect her family's mixed Jewish, Hungarian, Chilean background.

Other artists you could investigate in relation to this area are:

• Rita Keegan
• Chohreh Feyzdjou
• Sutapa Biswas
• Oladélé Ajiboyé Bamgboyé