Migration Map of Europe

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Christian Philipp Müller and Bundeskunsthalle Bonn
(Art and Exhibition Hall of the Federal Republic of Germany)

In September 2015, newspapers around the world featured headlines about Europe’s migration crisis. Artist Christian Philipp Müller began to address this topic long before the media focused international attention on the issue, including his most recent project, Observatorium.

Müller approached us at the beginning of 2015 to support the creation of an artwork, which was already in construction, to complement his research on Germany’s migration issue. He designed a so-called “observatory,” one half of which was filled with soil and divided into sections based on the statistical number of asylum seekers in Germany in 2014. Each tray was planted with vegetables from the targeted countries.

We approached the project with the aim of creating a supporting brochure for visitors. The background, facts and explanation of the problem are illustrated on the front with a thematic map, while the reverse provides exhibition viewers with recipes using the vegetables grown in the Oberservatorium. The use of data storytelling and story maps was very important for this project