Good neighbour, far friend

2018, SĄSIEDZTWO, Scena Robocza, Poznań, part of a community project/art exhibition

 

Sąsiedztwo can be translated as ‘neighbourhood’ and focusses on the act of neighbouring. During a project with this name, I decided to, together with a colleague, focus on Arabic immigrants, who are rare in Poland. This makes that the few people who live here, are in a particular situation. We met a Syrian woman that is isolated, because she doesn’t speak Polish. It turned out however, that she is very social and we became friends. I managed to communicate with her without a translator. After a few meetings I made a temporary installation out of white paper, regarding the places and topics of our meetings. Not looking upon the painful past of a refugee, but focusing of what we have now. Our means for communicating, words and drawings on paper, where also part of the installation. The title of the work comes from a Dutch proverb.