Literally translated, Fernweh (from German) means “farsickness” or an “ache for the distance.” Some dictionaries also translate it into “wanderlust” or “itchy feet.” Antonyms: Heimweh (homesickness).
The words above are age-old, but today interest in their meanings and conceptual possibilities for art practice and critical discourse is being renewed. Various factors seem to contribute to this interest: the merging of postcolonial discourse with everyday issues of globalism and migration; re-valuing the environment in the face of world ecological crisis; and the shifts away from 19th-century universal museum models to an art practice that seeks to create “in place” and “in the world.”
Fernweh was a travelling-curator project organized by Deveron Arts in the North East of Scotland and Mary Jane Jacob, Curator & Director of Exhibitions, School of the Art Institute of Chicago that aimed to investigate notions of travel and hospitality within community and socially engaged art. Over a five-day period in May 2013 a group of international curators (including representatives from Instituto MESA) traveled throughout rural parts of Northern Scotland exploring issues of art and community through a hosting, visiting and traveling program in collaboration with a series of arts organizations across Scotland. A publication of writings on the trip is currently being edited. Two of the organizations featured are highlighted in the first issue of MESA magazine.
The work of two of the organizations visited is highlighted in the first issue of MESA magazine.
Deveron Arts – The Town is the Venue: Art, Community and Place (Claudia Zeiske)
Makers’ Meal and the Production of the New Common (Nuno Sacramento)
For more information on Fernweh
Organizers
Claudia Zeiske, Director Deveron Arts
Mary Jane Jacob, Curator & Director of Exhibitions, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Participating Curators
Claudia Zeiske, Director Deveron Arts
Ernesto Pujol, artist, Cuba/USA
Gayle Meikle , independent curator, Scotland
Gibran Villalobos, independent curator, Mexico/USA
Mary Jane Jacob, Curator & Director of exhibitions, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Jessica Gogan, independent curator/educator, Director Instituto MESA
Luiz Guilherme Vergara, Director/Curator MAC, Niteroi, Brazil & art professor UFF
Nuno Sacramento, Director Scottish Sculpture Workshop
Host arts organizations in Scotland
Scottish Sculpture Workshop, Lumsden
www.ssw.org.uk
Timespan, Helmsdale
www.timespan.org.uk
ATLAS, Isle of Skye
www.atlasarts.org.uk
IOTA/Hi-Art, Inverness
www.invernessoldtownart.co.uk
Deveron Arts, Huntly
www.deveron-arts.com
