A current view of the World

In the series ‘A view of the current world’, a single point of view on movement, is depicted from 7 external views of the earth today, which you as the viewer can interpret as you will.  

The images started to develop when the Syrian civil war first broke out; a mass exodus of people, journeying through the continent of Africa. For many, this journey ended in death by drowning in the Mediterranean Sea, the end of their bid to find a safe home.  

I perceived a disconnection between the experience of these travelers and the semblance of it in our media, with only fragments of people’s journeys ever being represented. I felt how the beautiful jewel of a continent can be scarred, by our perception of the movement of people across it, through it, and from it.  

The ‘people’ series show meandering, sinuous curved lines to represent this movement. Africa (1) shows people’s journeys from the far and middle east, and Africa itself, and their continued journeys around South America (2). The impact of people’s movements on Antarctica is depicted (3); as well as the lack of movement in North America/ Europe (4), deemed the destination. Finally, we see the Pacific (5), where - as the land is submerged under rising sea levels - there is nowhere left for people to go.  

In contrast, the ‘trade’ series show straight lines: the movement of material goods and natural resources. They depict China, India and SE Asia (1) and Kamchatka and Alaska (2).