"In the meanders of sparkling waters and infinite horizons I found myself face to face with this rebellious people who defy established norms. Their life is chaos punctuated by resistance, fluidity and flexibility. They are the strangers of this world, moving without ties or fixed identity."
Artist: Guillaume Holzer
Project: Nomadism
One of our jury's favorite project, from the October 2023 opencall.
This series is an exploration of nomadism and freedom, it is also the synthesis of 8 years of life in Indonesia with the “sea nomads” when I devoted my time to coral conservation with these communities.
It serves as a journey into the relationship between place, mobility and identity, where I explore the function of deterritorialization and the components of identity and territory, inviting the reader to cross the domains of nomadism through history of the Bajau and Bugis communities.
Nomadism symbolizes physical and intellectual freedom, the process of liberation from territorial or ideological constraints. It represents resistance to rooting and an openness to fluidity and transformation. After freeing himself, the nomad can settle elsewhere, adopt new norms and create new relationships with his environment. However, this “reterritorialization” is temporary; it allows his movement and permanent change and, in a certain way, condemns him to be free.
In the meanders of sparkling waters and infinite horizons I found myself face to face with this rebellious people who defy established norms. Their life is chaos punctuated by resistance, fluidity and flexibility. They are the strangers of this world, moving without ties or fixed identity.
The Bajau and the Bugis are deterritorialized souls, wandering tirelessly, always on the move, like echoes of forgotten exiles. They reject the boundaries and constraints that try to imprison them. Their way of life is a dance with the unknown, one foot forward and one foot back, never really putting down roots anywhere.
Something resonates within me when I'm there, I feel at home and I seek to know why... This quest to explore reflects my personal search for meaning and identity.
May this story of nomadism inspire all those who dare to adventure beyond established boundaries, who question, create and live boldly. Because it is in this wandering that we find the freedom to truly be ourselves, free as nomads of the spirit...
© Guillaume Holzer