Artists: Azra Akšamija, Nika Autor, Lana Čmajčanin, Juliane Ebner, Plamen Dejanoff, Petja Dimitrova, Dejan Kaludjerović, Luiza Margan, Emil Mirazchiev, Alban Muja, Oliver Ressler, Škart, Kamen Stoyanov, Ute Richter, Borjana Ventzislavova & Mladen Penev, Clara Wildberger

Curated by Ilina Koralova and Boris Kostadinov

Fear is a basic, natural, defensive reaction to danger, which could reveal itself in acts of aggression, surrender, or retreat. However, in contrast to the inhabitants of Nature, fear has a much wider range of manifestations among human beings: from the mere physical annihilation of the bearer of the alleged danger to the more subtle ways of expression, such as hatred, prejudices, intolerance. Human fear could be justified, but also illusory, a symptom of a mental disorder or a result of some kind of manipulation, exerted on an individual by other individuals. It is not only psychological, but also social phenomenon, and, as such, it belongs to human history and society.  

The 21st century, marked by the events of 9/11, gave worldwide rise to an ever-growing fear and anxiety, that were unknown to some extent to the western societies at the time, and that have recently taken unprecedented proportions, due to the terrorist attacks in Europe, the refugee wave and the subsequent humanitarian crisis. Various researchers have shown that migration and terrorism are what the Europeans now fear most. However, fears of unemployment, of the deepening social inequality, of personal failure or financial ruin have been lurking in the old, as well as in the newly-born, capitalist societies for decades. The refugee wave only gave one last powerful impulse, which unlocked what has already been suppressed, more or less, for some time. Instability and constant threat gave impetus to the nationalist and far-right movements. The scepticism about the concept of a united Europe has intensified among the population of the EU member-states. 

This is where the project Migrations Of Fear takes its starting point. It evolves around the real, phantom, individual or common fears in general, which have surfaced in the last few years. Those fears, and above all the ways the contemporary (European) society could find in order to defeat them, are the spheres, which the project intends to explore.  

International Multidisciplinary Cooperation Project: Graz - Plovdiv - Slovenj Gradec - Leipzig

 

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