The Art of Walking

The Art of Walking was a durational performance walk (3rd July – 15th July 2020) from Amsterdam to the refugee camps in Calais, France. The work raises awareness about the issues of migrant workers in India who walk from big cities to their native villages. The pandemic didn't only fail the nation-state but also showed us the broken capitalist structure. India is in an extreme lockdown, where migrant laborers don't have food to eat, houses to live in, or public transport to go back home. The capitalistic structure built on their blood and sweat is not taking responsibility. 

​

‘The Art of Walking’ seeks to highlight the issue of migrants in this so-called equal opportunity globalized world. This durational performance work of 13 days of walking covering a distance of 356 km happened in 3 countries (Netherlands, Belgium, France) starting point in Amsterdam and endpoint at the refugee camps of Calais. The daily chores of stopping, resting, eating, and sleeping were important elements in the work that created space for reflection and documentation. At the endpoint, we cooked a meal for everyone. Eating together is a statement as well as an important action for us as migrant artists. From there, we walk together with a few people from the camp towards the ocean, from where we can see the UK. ‘The Art of Walking’ seeks to create space for conversation, and exercise an urgent role and function of art in times of crisis. 80% of the production budget of this project is paid to the migrant workers in India.