IN TRANSIT
CRAWFORD ART GALLERY TO HOST A CRACKING NEW EXHIBITION
© Gohar Dashti - from the series ‘Stateless’
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unning at the Crawford Art Gallery from March 6 to May 4, In Transit is a new exhibition exploring the stories of immigrants who traverse the no-man’s land that exists between home and hope. The exhibition spotlights various artists from around the world including Daniel Castro Garcia (UK), George Awde (US / Lebanon), Gohar Dashti (Iran), Stefanie Zofia Schulz (Germany) and Tanya Habjouqa (Jordan). A blend of photography and filmmaking, it focuses on the tentative limbo-like experience of living between different cultures. Curated by Peggy Sue Amison (former artistic director of the Sirius Arts Centre in Cobh) and in partnership with German museum Stadtgalerie Saarbrücken, In Transit is said to powerfully illustrate the physical and psychological challenges faced when fleeing from unsafe or economically depressed homelands, towards dreams of a more secure future. It looks at the deeper discussion of what constitutes citizenship in the 26
TRAVEL IRELAND MAGAZINE - MARCH 2020
wake of the enormous migrations into Europe. Through their narratives, the artists mentioned above strive to disrupt accepted misconceptions about immigration and otherness to tell a more accurate story. By collaborating with their subjects, they give voice to those who must endure mountains of dead time - filled with boredom, sadness, fear and apathy - while tangled up in bureaucracy in order to become more than merely ‘registered aliens’ or ‘tolerated’ people. The photography and video works of In Transit were created in Germany, Iran, Italy, Jordan and Lebanon. They are testimonies to day-to-day survival alongside the struggle to find a sense of normalcy, stability and a place to call home. The exhibition was initially showcased at Galleri Image in Aarhus, Denmark in 2016. It has since toured the US, visiting cities like Cambridge, Portland, San Diego and San Francisco. In Transit opens Friday, March 6 and runs until Monday, May 4 at the Crawford Art Gallery, after a preview
© Tanya Habjouqa Series- ‘Tomorrow there will be Apricots’
© Daniel Castro Garcia ‘Foreigner_I Peri N’tera’
on Thursday, March 5 at 5.30pm where all are welcome to attend. A catalogue of the exhibition is available through Blue Sky Books and the Cork gallery during its run. For more information about In Transit, visit www.crawfordartgallery.ie/ in-transit-6-march.
