Elza Czarnowski’s scientific contributions

What roles do things play in the context of forced migration? How do things become a vital source in the constitution of a sense of (new) home? Which promises, emotions, hopes, and expectations do they carry? The artwork HELPERS CHANGING HOMES (2018), exhibited in MOVING THINGS, On the Materiality of (Forced) Migration (Forum Wissen, Göttingen from October 28th, 2022 until January 15, 2023) is based on a very personal exploration by Berlin-based artist Yuka Oyama about personal possessions in moments of radical uprooting. Working with mobile individuals of various backgrounds and living a nomadic life herself, the artist suggests that for mobile people, after many relocations, material things — more than national identities, culture, ethnic communities, gender roles, tradition(s), etc. — become key, stabile, identity markers. They create a sense of home and, through Yuka’s work, find their ways into participatory performance, parades and exhibits. This text records a dialog between two curators of the exhibition MOVING THINGS, On the Materiality of (Forced) Migration, Elza Czarnowski (E) and Friedemann Yi-Neumann (F), and Yuka Oyama (Y). From a conversation about her artwork, we segued into dicussions around ‘home’ and migration.

(English version below) Was sagen Dinge über menschliche Existenz? Welche Funktionen haben sie im Rahmen von Flucht und Migration? Welche Versprechen tragen Dinge in sich, welche Emotionen, welche Aspirationen? Was hat materieller Besitz mit Menschenwürde zu tun und was bedeutet sein Verlust für das Selbstbewusstsein und die persönliche Identität? Wie verändern Menschen Dinge und Dinge Menschen? Die Autor:innen untersuchen »Moving Things«, also bewegende Dinge im doppelten Sinn: Dinge, die in räumlicher Bewegung waren und von dieser Bewegung erzählen. Und gleichzeitig Dinge, die ihrerseits Menschen bewegen. Der reichhaltig bebilderte Band wirft damit neue Blicke auf Erfahrungen, Erforschung und Debatten von Flucht und Migration. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What do things say about human existence? What functions do things have in the context of (forced) migrations? What promises do things carry, what emotions, what aspirations? What do material possessions have to do with human dignity? What does their loss mean for self-confidence and personal identity? How do people change things and things change people? The authors examine “Moving Things“ in a double sense: Presented are things that have been in spatial movement and tell of this movement, as well as things that move people. This richly illustrated volume takes a new look at experiences, research and debates on (forced) migration.