Traveling without Moving

The project examines different ways of perceiving a foreign city. When getting into a new environment, one relates to a city through his/her already existing experience and background, also preconceptions while first taking the position of the beholder. There are several notions of the city: besides being a geographical spot, it is also a social, historical, cultural structure as well as a mental space.

Thus, how is the character of a city created, what makes it particular and specific, how is its identity conceived? Is it the landmarks, the monuments and touristic hotspots as it is described in guides and handbooks; is it eccentric little facts such as the washing saloon where Allen Ginsberg once washed his underpants, is it customs and traditions - or has it more to do with an atmosphere which can only be circumscribed but hardly described ?

If trying to understand another urban entity, this question is unavoidable. However, the actual topic of investigation is whether the experiences, previous knowledge and precognition of an artist is adaptable in a new context, and if so, how can he/she go beyond stereotypes and clichés while working in a new context. In what sense can works of art therefore be site specific?

In the first moments of a new union, in the age of flexibility and of dynamism, in the constant need for changing places and identities and, at the same time in the framework of a national representation program the exhibition poses the question: In what sense can we talk about the identity and about the interchangeability of places?

Artists: Rosa Barba, Erick Beltrán, Henrik-Jan Hunneman, Gabriel Lester, Elske Neus, Raymond Taudin Chabot, Kamiel Verschuren, Ann de Vries, Edwin Zakman Attila Csörgő, Tibor Gyenis, Tamás Kaszás, Szabolcs Kisspál, Ádám Kokesch, Little Warsaw, Attila Menesi, Gyula Várnai

Artists in Trafó: Hendrik-Jan Hunneman, Gabriel Lester, Raymond Taudin Chabot, Edwin Zwakman