Maria Pichel Llaquet

Maria Pichel
L(ea)ving home, Leporello “A Move to Berlin“ mural, uncovered

back to the overview I deutschsprachige Version des Textes

What does it mean to have a home? What role do surroundings play in finding a new home? And can a certain environment facilitate the feeling of ´having arrived`? For the purpose of her artistic exploration of these questions, Maria Pichel used social media to find interview partners who had chosen Berlin as their new home and who were interested in talking to her about their experiences, feelings and background. She was also interested to know more about the changes, especially in their everyday lives and the reality of life that occurs as soon as one finds oneself, whether intentionally or unintentionally, in a new place, in a new country, and then tries to settle down here.

Pichel interviewed people from South America, South Africa, Spain, Portugal, Turkey and Great Britain in Berlin to talk about their changed relationships, routines and rituals in their new home. In the interviews, Berlin is a place to live because many things are comparatively affordable here.  In this way, Berlin is a place to try things out. It offers opportunities to create something artistic and not to have to think about existential issues all the time. She created a storyboard from the recurring motifs of the conversations, some of which lasted up to four hours. She created a folded booklet format for the presentation of the fictional story thus created. Using gouache and oil crayons, the graphic artist sketched images of the big city in winter from the perspective of new Berliners in her accordion-style folded book. 

Emptiness and darkness dominate the streets, the bare branches stand for the Berliners who are introverted in winter and their lack of spontaneity and joie de vivre. Impressions typical of Berlin, such as the underground, which sometimes runs above ground and sometimes underground, the pink pipes for the ground water above ground and discarded objects such as television sets and furniture, form the city backdrop for the feelings of the new arrivals. Statements made by her interviewees are handwritten on white rectangular surfaces and are part of the drawings in various places.

Often the text-image relationship provides a framework of associations, and the urban space and the feelings of the interviewees are linked in a variety of ways. The picture narrative begins with birds in flight. Views of rooftops, chimneys and the sky above the city whose location is not easy to pinpoint, reflect what the new arrivals describe as the fundamental, arduous process of finding a place in Berlin where one can feel a sense of belonging.

This lacking sense of belonging, both in their new home and their old one, leads to the omnipresent feeling of not being able to feel at home in any place at all. The interviewees also talk about the pain of having left family members behind alone and not having seen them for several years. Pichel combines these existential statements with illustrations of scenes in a Berlin pub. On the one hand, it is a place that encourages intensive interaction, but on the other hand, it is also anonymous and only invites fleeting encounters. The dark and wet street views, the discarded household rubbish and the overflowing glass containers all radiate a particular tristesse and represent a contrast to the comparatively affluent standard of living in Berlin. The graphic artist links views of visitors at a weekly market to the statements of an interviewee about not having a good time in Berlin because she has been unemployed for a long time, yet at the same time, she is happy to have so many friendships in the city that can even give her a feeling of home.  It is difficult, however, to only know people of a similar age, to hardly meet any older people and then to be caught up in an identity crisis due to a lack of language skills. 

However, this anonymity also leads to a great sense of freedom; in general, the interviewees agree on how safe and carefree everyday life is in Berlin. This is accompanied by the feeling of having space and being able to develop one’s own individuality. The transition from winter to spring is described as the most beautiful season in Berlin, because this transition is not only visible in terms of nature, but also in the behaviour of Berlin´s residents. Another of Pichel´s works is a mural in the exhibition hall. It shows the metropolis with bare trees and lonely, warmly-dressed passers-by. The illustrated scenes in connection with the described state of mind of the interviewees offer in their rich detail, a precise overview of what it means to search for a feeling of home in Berlin. Through its sociological perspective of the city and its people, the work conveys the structures of migrant life.

Text: Dr. Silke Förschler


About Maria Pichel Llaquet

Sociologist Maria Pichel started her artistic career in the field of illustration in 2013 (workshops and courses in Barcelona). According to her sociological background, she focuses on social issues (such as feminism, gender violence, environmental protection, sex work and underpaid domestic workers) and their translation into artistic-graphic languages. Her preferred visual art techniques are gouache, ink or color painting, which Pichel also combines with printmaking and digital art.

website: mariapichel.com
instagram: instagram.com/mariapichelart