Looking for a definition of the word coexistence, I found many of them but the one that leaves me the full meaning was this one by Oxford Learner’s dictionary: “the state of being together in the same place at the same time”. I just love it because the meaning is open and at the same time so close and precise. I tried to visualize the concept of being together in the same place at the same time just playing with the type (Founders Grotesk by Kilm Type Foundry), trying to make the letters coexist.

Our trust in each other to reach out―understand―adapt and co-operate

Even if that probably seems naive and a bit hippie: I am convinced that if we collectively stop being shitty assholes, the world would be a better place. Simple as that.

We live in strange times — overwhelmed by information and in a constant paralysis; shocked by absurd events that some time ago were not believed to be possible.
Many of us might feel powerless and submit to this feeling. But: our everyday lives are the result of our daily actions and decisions. Maybe not so much in a global sense, but even more in direct social coexisting.

Seek and find a balance in ourselves and with others to coexist. That’s all we need.

Animals and people, all of us are living creatures. All we have to do is never forget that we are coexisting on Planet Earth together.

One day prosperous cities and villages of the Chernobyl zone plunged in absolute silence. On April 27, 1986, tens of thousands of people left their homes forever.

This is a time-crossing project that explores memory, territory, atomic energy, and nature. It is based on the archive materials which I collected in the Chernobyl Zone. Started as contemplation of emptiness and silence of abandoned territory, it turned into an exploration of the past, that existed there long before the nuclear disaster. Sometimes, when I was there all alone, I had the feeling that I was in the future, and only from these little bits of history do I know that terrible truth that destroyed an entire civilization

‘chorus’ singing and celebration. With this piece, I wanted to visualise a strong sense of community and the solidarity that has grown between people through these difficult times. The light at the end.

We share one world but everyone has their own reality, based on individual and even opposite opinions, perspectives, experiences, decisions, values, emotions, circumstances, environments, beliefs, possibilities, knowledge, rules, influences and time. Reality is a matter of construction. It‘s an intermediate status of a complex process. We need more empathy and understanding for the rising ambivalences in order to coexist.

The top of the volcano Mount Bisoke is split in half by the border of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda. At an altitude of 3700 meters, one can find a beautiful lake and a unique vegetation. Heavily armed soldiers guided my tour to the top, where I took this photo from the Rwandan side. I was lucky that the clouds opened up for 5 minutes, so I could take this photo. Some people have been up there multiple times without seeing the lake once. 15 years ago Sebastião Salgado one of my role models in photography took a shot from exactly the opposite side. Only the water, the famous mountain gorillas and the vegetation live in harmony. I wished that us humans could coexist like nature.

The other day I talked with my friend about the difficulties of letting everybody speak while also not wanting everbody to speak the same language. Including minorities, appreciating difference, without eliminating it, avoiding to create one uniform way of thinking, doing and speaking like the modernist movement and it‘s implication in Eurocentrism did and is still doing so today across disciplines. In failing to find a solution, my friend sent me this quote by the conscious brand Sabinna: „Flowers do not compete with other flowers, they just bloom.“ My friend commented this, saying: „Flowers also don‘t need no money or love or sex.“ How can we all act more like flowers?

Since 700 BC, people are coexisting in İstanbul. #coexistanbul

The Physarum polycephalum (also known as blob) is an intelligent slime-mold. It can solve puzzles or memorize things. It communicates and fuses together with other individuals. Together they profit from shared memories, they are faster and bigger. They coexist in peace and profit from each other.

Statistic Seldom Sound Like Songs

Coexist is essential.

Coexist is essential.

Coexist is essential.

Coexist is essential.

Language is at the intersection of culture and diversity. It is fluid, adaptable and ever-evolving. The artwork combines and integrates the letter ‘M’ from multiple languages/scripts coming together as an abstract pictographic mark. It is a visualization of coexistence and flowing together into the River of Language.

The letter M has a strong connection to both water and the universal sound “Ma” (first phonetic made by babies) describing the entity who provides the most cherished love in one’s most vulnerable state. Although the actual words may differ, almost every language recognizes a form of it.

[ Made in collaboration with Minahil Bukhari for the 2020 Indian Summer Festival ]