Transit Art, Mobility and Migration in the Age of Globalisation

In todays globalised society, people are travelling more than ever. But they do so for different reasons, to different extents, and not least on radically different terms. Many go on holiday close to home or far away, commute regularly to and from work, and frequently visit family and friends in other countries. At the same time, migration is on the rise, and in recent years Europe has also experienced the arrival of the largest number of refugees in the history of the continent. Through contemporary art projects, Transit: Art, Mobility and Migration in the Age of Globalisation looks at the many different kinds of travellers whose paths cross daily in public transit zones. Who are they? Why are they travelling? Under what conditions do they travel? And what is their relationship to each other and to transit zones as sites of social and political negotiation? The research-based exhibition project Transit on which the publication is based, included art projects at stations and on the E line with an international exhibition at the museum, also includes an extensive educational activities, a website and collaboration with the Danish newspaper Information that includes debates and a publication. As a key element of the Transit project, furthermore KØS has in collaboration with Aalborg University Press published the research-based publication Transit: Art, Mobility and Migration in the Age of Globalisation. The publication includes a foreword by director of KØS Museum of Art in Public Spaces Ulrikke Neergaard and a research article based on the exhibition by postdoc and project curator Sabine Dahl Nielsen. The publication also includes an article based on mobilities theory by professor in sociology at Drexel University Mimi Sheller as well as an article based on migration politics written by architect Lorenzo Pezzani and filmmaker Charles Heller, both co-founders of Forensic Oceanography that is part of the collective research network Forensic Architecture, based at Goldsmiths, University of London. The artists Madame Nielsen og Pejk Malinovski each contributes with texts connected to their projects specifically produced to Transit. The publication also presents all of Transits art projects, debate events and educational activities and is richly illustrated with photographs from the exhibition at KØS Museum of Art in Public Spaces as well as documentation of the creation of projects in urban space and the participation and response of the public. Transit: Art, Mobility and Migration in the Age of Globalisation is aimed at art and cultural workers, for activists within the field of migration policy as well as for students, teachers and researchers in eg. art history, sociology, cultural geography and culture, curation, mobility and migration theory. The Transit research project and exhibition has only been made possible thanks to the generous support of Nordea-fonden. Transit is based on postdoc research project funded by the New Carlsberg Foundation. For more information on Transit visit the website www.itransit.dk