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Alina Lupu
Reverse Migration. The Odyssey.

The series documents the trip made to Turkey and back by land and by sea, a trip made to better experience the power of my Romanian passport and the inertia of traveling through “Fortress Europe” (a term related to keeping refugees out), across multiple borders.

All across the journey the concept of waiting was crucial: waiting to leave; waiting during a long transit; waiting to cross a border; waiting to come up with an idea; waiting to make an exhibition; waiting for the first visitor.

What does it mean to actually arrive somewhere?

Here is how it went, on my way to:

Amsterdam Centraal -> Budapest
Train / Interrail  

Budapest -> Athína
https://getbybus.com/en/bus-routes/budapest-14900/athens-5906/2022-11-27?adults=1

(Kiki: So I would suggest -> Piraeus - Chios by boat *approx 10 hrs (and then from Chios to Çeşme port by boat (30mins?) and then probably a bus once in Turkey) 

Athína, Piraeus -> Chios
https://www.ferryhopper.com/en/

Chios -> Çeşme
https://www.ferryhopper.com/en/

Çeşme -> Izmir
Taxi

On the way back:

Izmir -> Istanbul
https://shop.flixbus.ca/

Istanbul -> Sofia (sleeper train)
(via Diana: https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2022/nov/22/istanbul-sofia-express-sleeper-train-turkey-bulgaria)

Sofia -> București -> Vienna -> Amsterdam
Train / Interrail  

In short:

55 kilometers or 13 hours of walking;
243 kilometers or 20 hours of cycling;
3972 kilometers or 61 hours by train mostly;
8 countries;
34 cities;
97 places.


How do we move through environments, be they physical or social? How do we navigate the web of affordances created by individuals and objects alike? This constant motion of relating to each other is one that everyone is doing everywhere at every moment. You are doing it right now. And while change desires to be the only constant, we often find ourselves in static moments that shape our experiences. To reflect and constantly re-define one’s position within these fixed instances thus becomes a necessity for movement itself.

In November 2022, a group of 21 students from the Master Photography & Society program of the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague, NL traveled to Izmir. While visualizing our relations to this place that is new to all of us, we simultaneously got to know the collective Darağaç, sharing both time and thoughts about artistic practices and processes.

Through the apparent randomness of the trip, walking and stopping along the way, we encountered relations that developed into experiences, creating works that connect with each other not by design, but organically into its own coherent web. The photographs and videos span communities and social constructs: water, rocks, the path of borders in the environment and of the mind, all the while asking what movements we make, and how they are obstructed.

Although one could follow a physical map, our pop-up exhibition invited to go off the beaten path(s) and meander, at one’s own pace, into the infinite possible conversations that remain suspended around us all.

We would like to thank Ali Kemal Ertem, Ali Cem Doğan and the team of Darağaç for making this exhibition possible and for their generous support and hospitality during our time in Izmir. 

The exhibition was curated by Manu Ferneini and Pascal Giese.

︎︎︎ EXHIBITION & MAKING-OF

MA Photography & Society
︎︎︎ Website
︎︎︎ Instagram

Darağaç
︎︎︎ Website
︎︎︎ Instagram
︎︎︎ Joseph Kennel, Diego Reindel | Where and how do you have a connection to nature in your city or home?
︎︎︎ Beatrice Cera, Catalina Torres Puentes, Lara Varat | More fluid than water
︎︎︎ Alina Lupu | Reverse migration. The Odyssey.
︎︎︎ Alexey Yurenev | Demimonde
︎︎︎ Niké Dolman, Karin van de Wiel | Shapes of Izmir
︎︎︎ Alia Léonardi | Çok güzel
︎︎︎ He Bo, Kristina Iris Demian | The Only Constant in Life is Change
︎︎︎ Roger Anis, Benjamin Morrison | RESERVOIR
︎︎︎ Jonathan Tang, Daniel Zduniuk | Find The Heaviest Rock Around You. Smell It. Touch It. Kiss It. And Now, Displace It.
︎︎︎ Tashiya de Mel | Dansala
︎︎︎ Daniel Chatard, Lea Novi, Ben Yau | My dear friend Sam



MA Photography & Society © 2023
How do we move through environments, be they physical or social? How do we navigate the web of affordances created by individuals and objects alike? This constant motion of relating to each other is one that everyone is doing everywhere at every moment. You are doing it right now. And while change desires to be the only constant, we often find ourselves in static moments that shape our experiences. To reflect and constantly re-define one’s position within these fixed instances thus becomes a necessity for movement itself.

In November 2022, a group of 21 students from the Master Photography & Society program of the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague, NL traveled to Izmir. While visualizing our relations to this place that is new to all of us, we simultaneously got to know the collective Darağaç, sharing both time and thoughts about artistic practices and processes.

Through the apparent randomness of the trip, walking and stopping along the way, we encountered relations that developed into experiences, creating works that connect with each other not by design, but organically into its own coherent web. The photographs and videos span communities and social constructs: water, rocks, the path of borders in the environment and of the mind, all the while asking what movements we make, and how they are obstructed.

Although one could follow a physical map, our pop-up exhibition invited to go off the beaten path(s) and meander, at one’s own pace, into the infinite possible conversations that remain suspended around us all.

We would like to thank Ali Kemal Ertem, Ali Cem Doğan and the team of Darağaç for making this exhibition possible and for their generous support and hospitality during our time in Izmir.

The exhibition was curated by Manu Ferneini and Pascal Giese. 

︎︎︎ EXHIBITION & MAKING-OF


Joseph Kennel, Diego Reindel
︎︎︎ Where and how do you have a connection to nature in your city or home?

Beatrice Cera, Catalina Torres Puentes, Lara Varat
︎︎︎ More fluid than water

Alina Lupu
︎︎︎ Reverse migration. The Odyssey.

Alexey Yurenev
︎︎︎ Demimonde

Niké Dolman, Karin van de Wiel
︎︎︎ Shapes of Izmir

Alia Léonardi
︎︎︎ Çok güzel

He Bo, Kristina Iris Demian
︎︎︎ The Only Constant in Life is Change

Roger Anis, Benjamin Morrison
︎︎︎ RESERVOIR

Jonathan Tang, Daniel Zduniuk
︎︎︎ Find The Heaviest Rock Around You. Smell It. Touch It. Kiss It. And Now, Displace It.

Tashiya de Mel
︎︎︎ Dansala

Daniel Chatard, Lea Novi, Ben Yau
︎︎︎ My dear friend Sam 


MA Photography & Society
︎︎︎ Website
︎︎︎ Instagram

Darağaç
︎︎︎ Website
︎︎︎ Instagram



MA Photography & Society © 2023

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