Migrating people

Human migration is movement (physical or psychological) by humans from one district to another, sometimes over long distances or in large groups. (www.wikipedia.com)

Why do people migrate - there are a number of different reasons why people migrate from one place to another. The need to escape from persecution through war and ethnic cleansing, extreme poverty and hunger, slavery and displacement or financial gain.

Migrant Mother 1936, Dorothea Lange




"Nipomo, Calif. March 1936.
Migrant agricultural worker's family.
Seven hungry children and their
mother,aged 32. The father
is a native Californian."


Click on link below to read the article by Dorothea Lange about her encounter with the migrant mother.

http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/migrantmother.htm








Net migration rates for 2008: positive (blue), negative (orange), stable (green), and no data (gray)



BBC News Article -
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/world/04/migration/html/migration_boom.stm

As part of our series on global migration, BBC News Online looks at the numbers of people migrating, where they are going and some of the implications of migration. Over the past 15 years, the number of people crossing borders in search of a better life has been rising steadily. At the start of the 21st Century, one in every 35 people is an international migrant. If they all lived in the same place, it would be the world's fifth-largest country.

'Is it possible to find a dwelling, a place within the world, while moving across it? We are fixated with property claims and the possibility of embedding ourselves and of finding our identity in our surroundings. But if identity itself is fluid, the identity of place as much as that of ourselves, is it not natural to be in a constant state of movement rather than standing still? In a world of global exchange, perhaps we are all of us moving'. Dean/ Millar 2005:149) Society draws a circle. Those inside conform, and those at the edge either change or step outside to join those who don’t fit in. From the inside it can be difficult to see those on the outside, often hidden away. Invisible, yet co-existing in the same space. In this chapter I shall attempt to uncover this distinction. To identify those who choose to live outside the constraints of society, to uncover the spaces they identify as their own, and to break down the cultural myths associated with gypsies, travellers and nomadic/alternative lifestyles. Is the dominant ideology of our society shared by such people and to what extent do they consider themselves outside of the circle? The history of various groups hitherto known to wander from space to space. The folklore and traditions of days gone by, long forgotten to many but continued by some.

Campervans

The following link will take you to an online forum which shows images of a variety of different camper vans with all of the owners having common denominators - the desire to travel in their own van in (relative) comfort and in some cases style and to experience life on the road away from normality of life. The desire to escape to the great outdoors to 'rough it' is an inherent need in some people whilst others will not find it desirable at all. For them sleeping in small cramped spaces, being cold and not having the comforts of home is not an option. However if you are rich enough to won one of the vans in the images below I would hardly say 'it was roughing it'.

forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=4520042...

This image was taken by Rirkrit Tiravanija

source: Dean, T. & Millar.J., 2005, Place, Thames and Hudson:London

'When I was nineteen years old I left Thailand and went to Canada. At that point, I left high school thinking that I would go into photojournalism because I enjoyed the idea of being mobile and travelling a lot. I wanted to see everything, and this was a situation that could be put me there. I wasn't ever interested in making a lot of money; I just wanted to get by. But I wanted to see everything.' (Dean/Millar 2005:155)

romany gypsies

Link to photos of gypsies in Romania
http://www.leafpile.com/TravelLog/Romania/Roma/Roma.htm

link to home made video of gypsy camps

http://hubpages.com/hub/Romanian-Gypsies

These lines were written by Queen Victoria in 1836: -

I know too well its truth, from experience, that whenever any poor Gipsies are encamped anywhere and crimes and robberies, etc, occur, it is invariably laid to their account, which is shocking; and if they are always looked upon as vagabonds, how can they become good people? I trust in Heaven that the day may come when I may do something for these poor people.
—
http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/the_way_we_live/article6611276.ece

Folklore & Tradition - Relation Between People & Place

Another element concerning place and the relation between a physical space and its inhabitants is the culture and tradition that develop within an area. This can be based on the geographical and topographical nature of its place and the relation between this nature and those existing within it. Tradition is the amalgamation of routines, much of which consist of a relation between the land and the survival of the people upon it. England's rich history of farming and religion combined with the dependency on the land and the superstition of folklore has produced a wide array of traditions inherently linking the space and the people.


Sir John Benjamin Stone (1836-1914) photographed such folklore and traditions in an attempt to preserve what he considered to be an aspect of our culture that was gradually being forgot ton. These pictures depict age old traditions linked to harvest and superstition that are largely extinct today.


The 'Horn Dance' at Abbots Bromley, Staffordshire - visit to the vicarage, September 1899

Farm Workers at Perry Barr, circa 1990




The 'Kern Bride'


Historically gypsies and travellers would move from place to place in accordance with such traditions of harvest in order to work on the land. This benefited both the farms and the travelling communities. Today however many farms have suffered from international trade and large chain supermarkets and the demand for labour is much lower. Travellers therefore are forced to adopt other methods of work in order to survive and maintain their way of life.



Tar Barrel Rolling

In my attempt to uncover age old traditions as part of our culture I attended the annual tar barrel rolling in Ottery St Mary. This tradition dates back to the 17th Century and occurs every bonfire night to commemorate Guy Fawkes and burn the spirits of evil. It consists of setting alight wooden barrels containing tar, wood scrapings and paraffin. Once alight the barrels are carried through the streets of the town on the backs of the local men, who pass the barrel between them until it burns out. The event attracts thousands of people each year who fill the streets and square of the town creating a thick crowd that then have to avoid the burning barrels as they dart through the streets. This adrenaline filled event is reminiscent of Spanish bull running due to the collective fear and excitement of the crowd. When partaking in this event the herd like behaviour of the crowd seemed of another time, one that belonged far back in the zeitgeist of history resurrected each year












































The final barrel upon being dropped and becoming mass of embers and smoke is surrounded by the local barrel men who lock arms and sing songs. The smog covered faces and clothing of each man lit only by the red glow of the embers and surrounded by the noise of the crowd connoted some old age ceremony. The men look almost satanic in this moment, separate from the outside world. The hoards of cameras and tourists surrounding them become indifferent to the event. It is in this space that the tradition really lives on.

Public Spaces: Architecture and Landscape

Public Spaces and Public Places

What is a public space and why is important to
have them.
Definitions of public spaces

A public space refers to an area or place that is open and accessible to all citizens, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, age or socio-economic level. One of the earliest examples of public spaces are commons. For example, no fees or paid tickets are required for entry, nor are the entrants discriminated based on background. Non-government-owned malls are examples of 'private space' with the appearance of being 'public space'.
Public Space has also become something of a touchstone for critical theory in relation to philosophy, (urban) geography, visual art, cultural studies, social studies and urban design. Its relevance seems to become more pressing as capital encloses more and more of what were thought of as 'commons'. The term 'Public Space' is also often misconstrued to mean other things such as 'gathering place', which is an element of the larger concept.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_space



I have included a number of images of some of the most famous buildings in the world which are public places. they are also some of the most innovative designs.

Lyon Railway station, France - shaped like a swooping hawk



Sydney Opera House, Australia - shaped like shells

Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain - shaped like a ship



Burj al Arab, Dubai - shaped like a billowing sail
These iconic buildings are used for public enteratinment, transport and pleasure.




Whilst researching I found this site which list a lot more public buildings and monuments around the world. http://luciensteil.tripod.com/katarxis02-1/id30.html