Arriving rather late to this conversation but not to the issues raised.
Some important questions raised here about practice and purpose, thank
you for raising them and the discussion. Forgive me picking this up at some length, but as Forced Walks was named checked here is a contribution. My starting point in all
this is that very little walking has ever been undertaken out of choice
or for pleasure, but in the act of walking I have discovered embodied
pleasure, the joy of solidarity and my own solitary thoughtfulness.
In January this year in collaboration with artist Lorna Brunstein I began the first in what may become a series of Forced Walks projects. In April we began Honouring Esther with a two day walk in witness in Somerset following the transposed line of a Nazi death march. Others responded to our call and walked elsewhere in the same spirit networking with the project worldwide. In February next year we will walk the actual route of the death march in Germany from the site of the slave labour camp to the memorial at Bergen Belsen. This is both a deeply personal exercise, Lorna's mother Esther survived that death march, and an important and timely creative act of solidarity and bearing witness.
This performative walk actively sought to generate human rights resonances reflecting Esther Brunstein's faith in humanity and internationalism founded in her secular, Bundist and non-Zionist upbringing. With Esther's testimony as the core narrative the walk in Somerset responded to and generated many powerful contributions including testimony from a Kurdish refugee and a Syrian exile. Where the route of the walk in Somerset intersected the line of the Nazi death march we stopped, listened to the terrain, our bodies and these testimonies.
These points of intersection and reflection became the 'stations' of our walk; we will stop at those stations as they present themselves in Germany. We are still actively seeking to engage with artists and human right activists, the project is already networked with second and third generation survivors, liberators, perpetrators and witnesses.
Forced Walks: Honouring Esther is thus very much about exploring and generating resonances from a specific event. The walk in Somerset in April was a public statement, there were indeed moments of pleasure and conviviality, reflecting the drift of memory and awareness. The project is about choice, bearing witness and solidarity, a creative expression of human rights. Small but incredibly brave acts of resistance and kindness underpin survival both physical survival and the survival of ideas. Somewhere in all this there seem to be acts of, and a yearning for, reconciliation and redemption .... but I may have thought myself too far into the idea of secular pilgrimage. Certainly for many people in Germany the second and third generation refugee experience is far more widely shared than it is in England.
The walk in February in far more challenging conditions raise further considerations on the way in which we give attention to contemporary issues of belonging, exile and survival. Issues of conviviality are very much part of the discussion. Thankyou. Join us, take part on foot or online. https://forcedwalks.wordpress.com/
best wishesIn January this year in collaboration with artist Lorna Brunstein I began the first in what may become a series of Forced Walks projects. In April we began Honouring Esther with a two day walk in witness in Somerset following the transposed line of a Nazi death march. Others responded to our call and walked elsewhere in the same spirit networking with the project worldwide. In February next year we will walk the actual route of the death march in Germany from the site of the slave labour camp to the memorial at Bergen Belsen. This is both a deeply personal exercise, Lorna's mother Esther survived that death march, and an important and timely creative act of solidarity and bearing witness.
This performative walk actively sought to generate human rights resonances reflecting Esther Brunstein's faith in humanity and internationalism founded in her secular, Bundist and non-Zionist upbringing. With Esther's testimony as the core narrative the walk in Somerset responded to and generated many powerful contributions including testimony from a Kurdish refugee and a Syrian exile. Where the route of the walk in Somerset intersected the line of the Nazi death march we stopped, listened to the terrain, our bodies and these testimonies.
These points of intersection and reflection became the 'stations' of our walk; we will stop at those stations as they present themselves in Germany. We are still actively seeking to engage with artists and human right activists, the project is already networked with second and third generation survivors, liberators, perpetrators and witnesses.
Forced Walks: Honouring Esther is thus very much about exploring and generating resonances from a specific event. The walk in Somerset in April was a public statement, there were indeed moments of pleasure and conviviality, reflecting the drift of memory and awareness. The project is about choice, bearing witness and solidarity, a creative expression of human rights. Small but incredibly brave acts of resistance and kindness underpin survival both physical survival and the survival of ideas. Somewhere in all this there seem to be acts of, and a yearning for, reconciliation and redemption .... but I may have thought myself too far into the idea of secular pilgrimage. Certainly for many people in Germany the second and third generation refugee experience is far more widely shared than it is in England.
The walk in February in far more challenging conditions raise further considerations on the way in which we give attention to contemporary issues of belonging, exile and survival. Issues of conviviality are very much part of the discussion. Thankyou. Join us, take part on foot or online. https://forcedwalks.wordpress.com/
On 29 September 2015 at 14:54, Christos Galanis <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
As a follow-up, this short documentary from the Guardian last week, a reporter walking along with Syrian refugees from Hungary to Austria. Quite a moving portrait of the power of walking:Christos Galanis
PhD Candidate - Human Geography
University Of Edinburgh, Scotland
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http://peripateticpraxis.weebly.com/
+44 0795 134 7486 (UK)
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From: Richard Keating <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Monday, September 28, 2015 10:09 AM
Subject: Re: Convivial Walking
I too have been considering this Blake and, overcoming with my shame of being privileged in comparison to some of these situations, need to be very clear about my purpose for each walk I make with others.Its a good idea to unwrap "conviviality" a bit in order to apply it to achieving change. It may be that conviviality can be seen, rather than as a constant state, more as a way of putting our evolving situation into perspective with others? It may be painful, frustrating and downright sad as well as joyous and wonderful. Other words which appear to me to share some of the same ground regards collective endeavour are solidarity, resistance, hopefulness, participation, hospitality - but each one requires an attachment to context to have meaning.In addition, I wonder if we can have convivial relationships with other than human? Today I've imagined being a polar bear walking the arctic, watching Shells oil drilling rigs disappear over the horizon. Empathy and conviviality or anthropomorphism?best wishesRichard KeatingOn 28 Sep 2015, at 08:23, Blake Morris wrote:FRIENDLY REMINDER: if you click REPLY to this email, you will be sending a message to over 300 subscribers. Please do so only if you wish to respond to everyone.I am watching Dee Heddon's interview about the Walking Library on Vimeo this morning. At the end Heddon says 'walking is always a convivial activity, if you’re not doing it own your own, right?' (https://vimeo.com/119846573)Following Dee's own efforts to expand our understanding of the variety of walking practices and conditions, I wonder about this statement in relation to the refugee crisis and pedestrian migration, or other walks under crisis: the Trail of Tears, walks in concentration camps, the underground railroad. Having not had to undertake any walk so perilous, I don't know the reality of its sociability/conviviality is. It seems like it would be an aspect or perhaps a counter to the dominant walking experience...In relation to art, I think about something like the Forced Walks project... how does our experience of social or convivial walking as art inform our relationship to these other kinds of walkers?Just a (not very formed) thought, would love to know what other people think about this...Best,BlakeTo join, leave or suspend list postings, visit http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/wanFRIENDLY REMINDER: if you click REPLY to this email, you will be sending a message to over 300 subscribers. Please do so only if you wish to respond to everyone.To join, leave or suspend list postings, visit http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/wanFRIENDLY REMINDER: if you click REPLY to this email, you will be sending a message to over 300 subscribers. Please do so only if you wish to respond to everyone.To join, leave or suspend list postings, visit http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/wan
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