Kai Werner Schmidt

"... In Greek mythology, Hyperborea is presented as an earthly paradise that is so remote that it is not reachable by ordinary mortals. According to the ancient Greeks, it was only superhuman heroes who were capable of traveling beyond the North Wind to this land of abundance. How our attitudes have changed since then. Even though the imaginary of an abundant North lives on, those who attempt the journey are held in a different regard. ..." "... In Kai Werner Schmidt's photographs, we find another way of expressing displacement and uprootedness. Rather than making the migrant an object of focus, his photographs provide a glimpse into what it would be like to take up the migrant's point of view. In none of the photographs, do we see any migrants arriving on pebbled beaches. Instead, what we are offered is a chance to at least try to experience what it is like to travel through a contested landscape where one's mere presence is a matter of dispute. ..."