Constance Hockaday & Anastasia Taylor-Lind

This Land Was Made For You And Me

Multi-platform artwork

 
 

This Land Was Made For You And Me is a multi-platform response to the Syrian Refugee Crisis along the migrant route from Turkey, across the Mediterranean and into the Balkans.

Тhe centerpiece of the project is a floating radio tower that sits offshore from Turkey on the route to Greece. This radio tower transmits daily recorded messages from Syrians who have made it to a safe haven in the Balkans to those who are just boarding vessels and beginning their journey across the dangerous sea. These messages may come in the form of prayers, testimonies of encouragement, advice for ways to survive the difficulties of the journey, and a little bit of light-hearted dark humor that comes from refugees themselves poking fun at the horrific situation.

The documentary component of this project will include:

  • Editorial photography;

  • Documentation and social media curation of smartphone photography that the refugees themselves create and share;

  • Visualization of the data collected by Harvard University Sociology Dept on the economic structure of the organized criminal networks that support the refugee trail.

This Land Was Made For You And Me is a project in progress.

 
 
 
 

 

Constance Hockaday is a Chilean American artist who grew up on the water in South Texas. She has specialized in creating unusual maritime experiences for more than 15 years, including a boat hotel (Boatel), which the New York Times called “a New York City success story” — connecting over 5000 New Yorkers to their waterfront. Her most recent performance installation, All These Darlings and Now Us, commissioned by Southern Exposure in San Francisco, was described by the New York Times as a powerful “commentary on the forces of technification and gentrification roiling San Francisco.”

 
 
 

Anastasia Taylor-Lind is an English/Swedish journalist, artist, photographer and 2016 Harvard University Nieman Fellow. She has a background in photojournalism and has worked for leading editorial publications all over the world on issues relating to women, population and war. Her first book, MAIDAN – Portraits from the Black Square, which documents the 2014 Ukrainian uprising in Kiev, was published by GOST books the same year. Anastasia is a TED fellow and National Geographic Magazine contributor.