nomadic village workshop, talk and discussion @ cmak

the captain on his way to cmak

for Wednesday Nomadic Village brought two small programs to CMAK:

Captain Klaus on freestyle analog colour-photography
We took a group portrait of all the attendends with an old school wooden large format camera and
developed the colour negative with a very simple set up.
The aim of this performance is to show that it can be quite simple to work on film, even in colour.
In the next days, Captain Klaus will make a print of the negative in his mini mini darkroom in the caravan.
Everybody is invited to drop by and have a look and an introduction to printing.

Anna Lipphardt on Artists and Mobility in Europe
From fighting for freedom of movement and expression to paving the way for neo-liberalism.

followed by a short introduction to the Nomadic Village by Captain Klaus

followed by a very interesting discussion about the theme: To what extend we are part of these dynamics, and how we can counteract them?

introducing the magic of a large format camera

the magic

quick & dirty developement set up

and voila, the negative

very interesting discussion with anna lipphardt, small but dangers and cmak

village life

monique preparing the dough        -        in her morning/baking dress        -         the delicious fresh bread

discussing concepts with anna - andi & anna doing the dishes

an unexpected gift by one of our visitors :)

apple/marzipan cake by tina for marzipan tuesday

klaus preparing to take a portrait of the priest in the church with the assistance of francisca

presentation evening in the galeria nowhere caravan with our hosts mateja and simon (small but dangers)

chocolate monday

captain klaus & tinski

klaus changing the film & developing the negative

the finished negative & proud klaus in the new mini darkroom in the galeria nowhere " bathroom"

tray with tinas snippets & finished collage from old picture and frame found in italy

the plate of colors & tina painting backgrounds

www.klaus.maehring.at
www.la-tinski.blogspot.com

a sunny day in the village

franciscas cranes & annas laptop                    2 earths, a flagpole & the belltower

anna in front of the galeria nowhere caravan

the nomadic kitchen & workspace with captain klaus, heidi, andi & francisca

travellers & the church

article by Anna Lipphardt 

anna in the middle of the nomadic kitchen

(teaches Cultural Anthropology at the University of Freiburg where she also directs the research group Cultures of Mobility in Europe)

Because the NOMADIC VILLAGE this year happens to be located right next to St. Anna Church in Cerkno, here are some spotlights on the complex interrelations of travelers and church. While alternative travelers come mostly from subcultural, leftist milieus and are thus rather antagonistic or indifferent to all things religious, though some take religiously inspired good luck charms onto the road.

For traditional travelers, that is circus people and travelling show people, puppeteers or market vendors, religion is very important, in many spheres of their lives. Their experiences and practices in respect to the church open surprising perspectives on the interrelation of mobile and sedentary members of society, as well as on the question what constitutes a community. 

good luck charms in the cars of former and current nomadic village inhabitants

In regular, local communities, members go to church, a prominent building in the center of the village or town, with the priest holding a position of great social power. The local priest is usually the first person to go to for travelers arriving at a new place, because of the church’s doctrine to provide support to everyone in need.  In Germany, as in a number of other European countries, the Catholic and the Protestant Church have both established specific mobile units providing pastoral care to occupational travelers (for more see here and here). Instead of community members coming to the church, these priests travel within a specific district to meet their community members, wherever these set up their shows or attractions. Instead of using a local church, religious services are held on the premises that serve as the temporary work space and home base, in an auto scooter or circus tent temporarily converted into a church. With this constellation the power relation between priest and community changes radically. First of all, while local communities are stuck with their priest, for good or bad, travelers can decide to accept a priest into their community – or not. It is the priest who is the outsider who has to earn the trust of his/her constituency. Priests who have worked with both types of communities, say it takes 1 to 2 years to get accepted by local residents, but between 5 to 7 years to be really let in by travelers. If one has gained their acceptance though, the encounters with community members – which take place with long temporal intermissions in-between – tend to be much more immediate and cordial, and extend far beyond purely religious affairs. In fact, the travelling priests today often assume an important position as lobbyists and interlocutors, mediating between local authorities or individual local residents on the one hand and travelers on the other.

For many travelers it not to so important, if a Catholic or a Protestant priest marries them or baptizes their kids, and for some of the priests this confessional division also does not seem to be crucial. One protestant priest, who has worked with travelers for over 20 years, has e.g. adopted the baptism ritual – instead of declaring a baptized child, a new member of the Protestant Church, he declares: “You are now a member of the Travelling Community.” (“Du bist jetzt ein Mitglied der Reisenden Gemeinde.”) Way to go for the rest of the Church…  

If you want to learn more, check out the Research Project on Pastoral Carefor Travelers @ Uni Tübingen.

tinski's working materials

snapshots

the kitchen shelf

the village

from day to night

mini blackforest cake (sort of) from the can brought to us directly from the black forest by anna

Monique & Francisca

workplaces in the galeria nowhere caravan (Monique-left, Francisca-right)

Monique Besten (Netherlands) and Francisca Alsua (Chile) are sharing the small office in the Galeria Nowhere caravan. They both have a blog where you can follow their project:

Monique: asoftarmour6.blogspot.com
Francisca: transmutedstories.blogspot.com

Monique baking bread & Francisca folding cranes

Monique's blue & Francisca's orange tent

Opening of the Village

captain klaus opening the village in cerkno

The Village has been set up and now it has officially opened!

lufka has arrived

afternoon conversations

Ding Dong

home sweet unusual home

This is a Nomadic Village for the early birds. Every day we will be woken at 7 by the bells. Ding Dong, how comes?!

Our arrival in Cerkno was quickly overshadowed by one very disruptive fact: The location was not accessible by The Bus, which is the center, the townhall, Klaus and Tina's home, everything and more. Bad news indeed...

We took the challenge. We had a look around. Everybody of the locals told us that there will be no chance. It's a mountainous place, and free and level pieces of land are a rarity. And that tiny charming spot snug behind the church? Small and impossible to have...

Impossible? That's a challenge for us! Yesterday the Village moved in, exactly onto that spot, and we feel a bit proud. And stubborn enough. And we never thought a priest would save us and the project. What a beautiful and simple 'yes, no problem'!

Our partners here and us are very happy. Being new and unprejudiced to the place we saved the Village and opened a new possibility in Cerkno, and isn't that exactly the quality that strangers can bring to a place? Ding Dong.

home sweet home!

 Nomadic Village Track

another meeting in Valbruna & getting to know Cerkno

Cerkno! We arrived, it is not like expected. More soon.....

Nomadic Village left Valbruna after a great and inspiring meeting with Heidi Sepällä and Andi Pils, who are also on their way to the first Village starting on thursday. They are great! Immediately their projection set-up was out and on, and they pursued their quest of putting the world in a different light. Reward was a fantastic diner in the Galeria Nowhere.

 you can read about their trip & project here: indifferentlight.primitive.at

Lufka in Valbruna

artists Heidi Seppälä & Andreas Pils

dinner preparations

Nomadiv Village Track

first circle completed & next one to go

During leg 01 of our trip we completed a circle through northern Italy, discovered new Places to Stay and visited old ones, and got our GPS tracking to work, which will become a central tool for the future Nomadic Village. We made the acquaintance of two likeminded people, Günter and Barbara, who spend most of their lives on the road in their Volkswagen van pursuing their sports- and arts-interests. They also offer great adventures (here's their homepage in german)!

The Captain got on with his portrait work and spend some good time up in the air, while Tina worked on a graphic job that might pay for our broken alternator. Nomadic Village is now back at Oscar's Segheria picking up the Galeria Nowhere Caravan (travelling without it felt very light and easy, but we did miss the great extras it brings, like an oven, central heating). On sunday it's off for Cerkno, location for the first Village (see poster above).

We are also looking forward to meeting artists Andi Pils & Heidi Seppälä and their project 'In Different Light' tomorrow evening, and to their first stories fresh from the road (along with some trouts fresh from the lake).

Nomadic Village Track

small luxuries on the road

sundown

The small luxuries on the road: A hot shower, solid internet, toilets, a washing machine...  We checked into a place for a few days to enjoy some of this. Another dogma down, because officially this is a campsite, and campsites are bad. Officially...

We are gathering our strenghts. Next week the first Village starts in Cerkno/Slovenia, and we are looking forward to an exciting time. Cerkno seems like a good place, and our partners on site are great. But still, being the Mayors will demand a lot of attention. It's not just the obvious things like set up, infrastructure, responsibility and all. Seeing (and tweaking) the small details, reacting to or balancing the social dynamics within the group of artists, relating our work and lives to the public in a friendly way; this is what makes this project special and what can leave us happy and deeply exhausted after a Nomadic Village is over.

our place of residence for a few days

with pool & sunshine

Nomadic Village Track

treasure hunting & visiting the sea

the cheesebus in portomaggiore

10 more empty frames, quite a find for a day. Frames have become starting points for new works. They give a pretty good definition about size and position and as we find them along our roads they carry some history within them. They can be quite influential.

Today we went treasure hunting. After we discovered that our favorite charity shop closed forever, we run into a great fleamarket (with a fantastic cheesebus) just around the corner. Then on to the next, with a small detour by the sea (it is striking, what an obligation this is, and what a sure way to encounter tourism, a very weird phenomena!).

We are heading north again and are looking forward very much to settling down for some days!

tina's view from the bed while klaus is driving

water traktor

short visit to the sea @ lido di volano

charity shop in ferrara

treasure hunting finds

location for the night

Nomadic Village Track