Aleid Denier Van Der Gon

Residency period: August 2016
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Floating on the Whims of Our Dreams

Aleid has always been fascinated by cultural diversity and the resilience of people to adapt when faced with life-changing situations.
During her stay in Centro Negra (Blanca) she has started a new research project ‘Once, I am the future.’
Focusing on the rural landscape of Murcia in relation to European migration. In recent years there has been a growing tendency for Northern Europeans, predominantly but not always pensioners, to settle here in Murcia. Their reasons for doing so can be many and varied; the 320 days of sun a year, the hospitality of the region, the ability to enjoy a life that would not be possible at home, the relative economic freedom or to get away from pressure back home, are all reasons for such a major change. At the same time, particularly in these times of recession, there is a trend for younger Spanish people to move away from their familiar surroundings, family homes and culture. In search of work they are often moving abroad to the very countries that the incoming ex-pats have recently left.
Her project reflects the land and its people and how this tendency for inverted migration may affect their future.