Political journey

Sven Johne – 47 Faults between Calais and Idomeni

02.12.2020
Sven Johne, 47 Faults between Calais and Idomeni, 2017, pigment inkjet prints, each 48,5 x 75,5 cm, loan of the artist, © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2020, photo: Bernd Hiepe

In 47 Faults between Calais and Idomeni, Sven Johne documents his journey through Europe, whereby each photo, tagged with the place, date, and time, stands for a stop. The “political border crosser” travels through France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, and Austria to the Greek border, always directing his head and lens to the ground. Each photo is empty and shows no recognizable landscape or architecture. 

Johne visits places that silently bear witness to European history: filled trenches, bomb craters, dis mantled or still-existing border installations, former ammunition depots, abandoned barracks, nationalistic monuments, former concentration camps, parade grounds, places of massacres and ruins. The artist notes poetically that our history is not only inscribed in our society, but also in the bricks, the floors, and the asphalt that we use every day. On his journey of 3407 kilometers, Johne approaches the history of these places by aiming his camera at the cracks and holes, thus making the traces the focus of attention.

PCH