Traveling crew promote global thinking

Four-member Earthcircuit stages exhibitions that travel the world in trucks

Take four people, a dog, two trucks and a free-spirited sense of adventure and you have Earthcircuit, who are coming to the end of the Korean leg of their world trip.

They have been traveling the globe, carrying out research projects and staging media exhibitions as they go, all in the name of global interaction and understanding.

The “crew,” who met in London and consist of Radka Pavlova Hetmankova, Dunia Sinclair Julio, Andrew Roper, Conny Keckeis and Vaga the dog, are from Europe and arrived in Korea in November for their first ever glimpse of East Asia. “It’s hard to work out whether what we see is an Asian thing or a Korean thing,” said Keckeis.

But, she explained, “What we love are the busy streets, markets (and) entertainment areas which look so chaotic but must have an underlying order. Chopsticks, electronic toilet seats, old people exercising everywhere ... these are all new and quite memorable.”

The friends, who set off in July, have ambitions exceeding the usual sightseeing, and have already put on two events, first in Busan and most recently in Seoul.

Their Seoul event was a presentation of photographs from their overland journey ― through Europe and into Asia ― so far. They included panoramic photos part-funded by indie art community AGIT in Busan, where they had their first solo exhibition.

So what were their first impressions of Korea after arriving in Sokcho? “We thought the place was very developed, very bright, modern,” said Keckeis.

“After a few days driving south from Sokcho, and compared with the vast distances in Russia, it seemed the country was one big theme park, with something to see and do around every corner,” she continued.

Using their own transport ― “Jigsaw,” a retired wheelchair bus, and “Van Boy,” a former police vehicle ― and traveling independently, the group feel they allow for an experience that is “more than just tourism.”

Despite finding their long drive through Russia, using the Amur Highway, very challenging, the group have found the whole experience rewarding, especially the friendships they have forged along the way.

Once in Korea, they found prior ideas they had were not necessarily accurate. “One clich we had of this region is that people are very obedient, law-abiding ... we’ve discovered this doesn’t extend to the Korean driving behavior,” said Keckeis.

Earthcircuit are hoping to produce both a book, as well as a film documenting their trip on their return. “We want to put in the book some of our personal thoughts and emotions that we had at the time, showing how preconceived notions can be dispelled and how it is possible to live a dream,” said Keckeis.

They also hope to promote “planet-wide thinking” to “look at experiences of people everywhere and imagine the future of everyone ... we promote the mix-up of cultures and people so as to increase this way of thinking,” she said.

She went onto explain that “even though there are thousands of Brits in Spain, thousands of Poles in Ireland, thousands of Turkish in Germany, we find our individual cultures remain as they are improved from cooperation.”

The response they have received from the public so far has been positive. “They hear our stories and see the photos and are inspired,” said Keckeis.

Earthcircuit hope that their journey will encourage others to step into the unknown and not be scared to follow their aspirations.

“Cause most people on the planet are the same,” said Keckeis, “they just want to get on with their lives.”

To follow Earthcircuit’s journey and find out about future events, visit their website at http://www.earthcircuit.org/.

By Hannah Stuart-Leach  (hannahsl@heraldcorp.com)