Here, But Somewhere Else
Who can decide to move and who is forced to stay? Or is it the other way around? As bell hooks writes in Belonging: A Culture of Place: 鈥渢hinking about place, where we belong, is a constant subject for many of us鈥�. This is particularly true for the artists in Here, but somewhere else, whom I invited to explore the universal human experiences of mobility, movement and belonging through personal stories.
Taking a decentralised approach, the exhibition features the works of seven artists whose practices combine local and regional perspectives. The works of Nevena Aleksovski, Elena 膶emerska and Ivana Mir膷evska, Ana 膶vorovi膰, Andrea Knezovi膰, Ilija Prokopiev and Lenka 膼orojevi膰 weave together the dynamics of displacement, transnational identities, collectiveness and the ever-shifting belonging of those who traverse borders. Their works explore intimate cartographies of belonging 鈥� whether voluntary, forced or imagined, across time. Using eclectic artistic approaches and varied media, the artists took a cue from Aimee Carrillo Rowe鈥檚 notion of 鈥渄ifferential belonging鈥�, a movement between dissimilar types of belonging that keeps us on our toes and prompts us to deal with the ways in which we are oppressed and privileged. They embarked on a search for belonging that instead of identity politics explores different forms of (co)existence with the intention of being transformed.
The artworks explore the complexities of feeling at home in more than one location. Transnational narratives echo throughout the works, sharing ideas of belonging that transcend borders and connect individuals to multiple spaces and communities. Rather than romanticising the notion of home, they study liminality and 鈥渇inding a way to make space for our true selves鈥�. Inevitably, vulnerability is woven into personal stories: embracing oneself in the process of adapting to new environments is a journey of its own.
The diversity of diasporic cultures is visible in many of the artworks. Using different strategies, such as auto-ethnography, psychogeography, personal genealogies, the works tell a story of universality that goes beyond the world of binaries. Nevena Aleksovski uses the past as a raw material, converting it into a source of exploration of critical thinking. The personal and the communal intersect in Aleksovski鈥檚 work, stories and practices of the past connect to create a more nuanced understanding of the artists鈥� as well as our shared history.
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Who can decide to move and who is forced to stay? Or is it the other way around? As bell hooks writes in Belonging: A Culture of Place: 鈥渢hinking about place, where we belong, is a constant subject for many of us鈥�. This is particularly true for the artists in Here, but somewhere else, whom I invited to explore the universal human experiences of mobility, movement and belonging through personal stories.
Taking a decentralised approach, the exhibition features the works of seven artists whose practices combine local and regional perspectives. The works of Nevena Aleksovski, Elena 膶emerska and Ivana Mir膷evska, Ana 膶vorovi膰, Andrea Knezovi膰, Ilija Prokopiev and Lenka 膼orojevi膰 weave together the dynamics of displacement, transnational identities, collectiveness and the ever-shifting belonging of those who traverse borders. Their works explore intimate cartographies of belonging 鈥� whether voluntary, forced or imagined, across time. Using eclectic artistic approaches and varied media, the artists took a cue from Aimee Carrillo Rowe鈥檚 notion of 鈥渄ifferential belonging鈥�, a movement between dissimilar types of belonging that keeps us on our toes and prompts us to deal with the ways in which we are oppressed and privileged. They embarked on a search for belonging that instead of identity politics explores different forms of (co)existence with the intention of being transformed.
The artworks explore the complexities of feeling at home in more than one location. Transnational narratives echo throughout the works, sharing ideas of belonging that transcend borders and connect individuals to multiple spaces and communities. Rather than romanticising the notion of home, they study liminality and 鈥渇inding a way to make space for our true selves鈥�. Inevitably, vulnerability is woven into personal stories: embracing oneself in the process of adapting to new environments is a journey of its own.
The diversity of diasporic cultures is visible in many of the artworks. Using different strategies, such as auto-ethnography, psychogeography, personal genealogies, the works tell a story of universality that goes beyond the world of binaries. Nevena Aleksovski uses the past as a raw material, converting it into a source of exploration of critical thinking. The personal and the communal intersect in Aleksovski鈥檚 work, stories and practices of the past connect to create a more nuanced understanding of the artists鈥� as well as our shared history.
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