KALAGRAPHY

a series of artistic research projects by OPHER THOMSON that explore our changing relationship with changing habitats

OPHER THOMSON interprets public space through images, sounds and words in the hope of better understanding how these places express and condition social dynamics over time – the tracing of sedimentary stories that shape our future. As such, he focuses on the ripples of the present, and calls this practice Kalagraphy, the study and depiction of places in time and time in places. His research considers migration as an action and home as a practice, and is especially concerned with possible translations of divergent experiences that might foster greater empathy.

He has published several books and his films have been screened at major international film festivals such as Tallinn Black Nights, Torino Film Festival and Camerimage, while the feature length 'The New Wild: Life in the Abandoned Lands' went on to be distributed theatrically in cinemas throughout Italy and Austria. Increasingly however, new projects are seen less as productions of finished pieces and more as ongoing explorations, with greater emphasis on dialogue and collaboration, participation and plurality: the hope is that each piece acts as a kind of invitation, and asks "where might we meet?" His latest research 'Forrest' continues to take loose form through photography exhibitions, installations, guided walks, public readings and sonic performances that host a sort of transient book, 'Berth Songs', while gathering together a collective reflection on homeloss.

Aside his own research, OPHER THOMSON is also involved in various social and community projects, often concerned with questions of periphery and new, innovative forms of centre. Working alongside sociologists, geographers, architects, urban planners, social workers, volunteers, artists and locals, he offers workshops and seminars to help develop collective readings of space that can better inform projects and enrich participatory processes.

more information on workshops, seminars and introductory guides to kalagraphy here

He is currently finalising a collaboration with the University of Parma in which he attempts to invert the gaze of migration, recounting clandestine journeys across Italy through the landscapes witnessed, so that the usual sedentary vision portraying unknown people in transit is replaced by a mobile vision portraying an unknown country in transit. The resulting film will be released as 'Dressed for the confines: in the wings of the Italian amphitheatre'. More information here.