THE PLACES WE CARRY- Spaces in Transit

The Places We Carry is a public performance that was repeatedly staged at the Austrian train stations Wien Hauptbahnhof and Wien Meidling. A character is carrying her colourful living room with her and setting it up visibly on the platform. The performance poses the question, what places do travellers carry with them when they are on the move? What traces do they leave behind? Which feelings accompany them on their travels? Are all journeys the same?

How are globalization and consumerism affecting the environment in which we travel and transit? Why are spaces of transit sometimes forcing us to move in a certain way when we could instead take advantage of the knowledge each different journey brings?

The Places We Carry is an ongoing public intervention at Austrian train stations. A character is carrying a potted plant, cushions, and a rug. She sets it up visibly in space to create a welcoming place similar to a living room. A living room is usually the core of a home, is a point of connection. It can be shared with others, e.g. guests, but at the same, it can be used to enjoy some privacy, to feel comfortable and calm. One can belong there.

The core statement of this project is that everybody moves and travels differently. No matter whether you are a local, a migrant or a tourist, every person carries their own places with them (life stories, memories, experiences) while travelling. Spaces of transit thus should not be standardized based only on the ideology of the market and capital but recognize and reflect the diversity of its users. Where are the emotions, colours, sensations, smells, music, and where remains the humanity? The project collects interpersonal elements and emotional factors that could give spaces of transit more personality.

Apart from the fact that the performance will be carried out at more train stations around the world in the future, a crucial next step of the project is to create a public platform to open up a bigger discussion on how society is moving and how we are solving the need of circulation and transit.

Time

January 2020

Location

Austria

Team

Gabriela Urrutia Reyes

Links

https://vimeo.com/449257663