Paper short abstract:

Space, so Michel de Certeau, is a web of moving elements. Any movement leaves an imprint in the landscapes and the stories that circulate about them. Based on ethnographic research, this paper demonstrates three dimensions of collective and creative hiking practices.

Paper long abstract:

Space, so Michel de Certeau, is a web of moving elements. Space and landscape, paths, tracks and routes are continually changing, as people - and animals - are treading them. Any movement leaves an imprint in the landscapes and the stories that circulate about them.

The border-region between Austria, Italy and Slovenia is marked by the conflicts of the 20th century. This is the landscape where UNIKUM, the Cultural Centre at the University of Klagenfurt/ Celovec offers artistic hiking tours, passing de-populated Friulian villages, a almost equally depopulated airport, a ghost-bus, and the leftovers of thriving industries from an earlier era. Musicians, dance-performers, visual artists, actors, or philosophers provide entertainment along the way. Each walk ends with a meal.

Based on ethnographic research with UNIKUM, this paper demonstrates three dimensions of collective and creative hiking practices. First, social pleasure - moving the body, engaging in conversation inspired by the landscape and the signs set by UNIKUM and it's artist friends. Second, prayer and pilgrimage: At times, the groups are forming veritable processions, walking gives rise to a medidative, almost prayer-like mood. Third, artistic research: Preparing the stops requires intensive interaction with farmers, officials, administrators, pub-owners and many more. This interaction creates knowledge, which is transferred into practice and sometimes into poetic travel-guides. Altogether, the paper argues that this type of hiking practice encourages transformation: Participants and contributors experience the border landscape in a way that counters hegemonic national discourses with their clear distinctions between us and them.