艺术家眼中的旅行

Before the age of cameras and social media, holiday memories were often depicted through art work. Now, there's an exhibition in Berlin devoted to this form of souvenir. More than a hundred pictures, spanning five centuries of travel, are on show at the "We're Off Then" exhibition at the Museum of Prints and Drawings.

Summer is approaching in the northern hemisphere, inspiring ideas to experience foreign lands and cultures.

Before the era of cameras and smartphones, travellers would pick up a pen or a brush to capture the peculiarities of their journey.

Now, an exhibition in Berlin has gathered more than a hundred prints and pictures depicting travel from an artist's perspective.

The "We're Off Then" exhibition ranges from early prints of pilgrims in search of enlightenment to pictures of people using boats, trains, and automobiles to expand their horizons.

"To travel has always been an important theme for people. It starts with people using their feet to explore the areas around their homes," said Ina Dinter, curator, "We're Off Then" exhibition.

"Travelling is about answering the questions 'where do I belong in the world? Where is home, and where is away?'"

The exhibition ranges from watercolour paintings of the German Enlightenment period to pop-art prints from the last few decades.

Some of the prints were sold to tourists at the locations they depicted as souvenirs, long before Instagram and Facebook.

"The printed graphic is an important medium, just like printed books or illustrated works. They are multipliable, serially produced, pictures," said Heinrich Schulze Altcappenberg, director, Museum of Prints and Drawings.

"This was something you brought back home with you to hang on the wall and show friends and family. It was a mobile medium, and a bit like the internet today. Not as fast but still very fast."

One part of the exhibition deals with forced travel, such as that of refugees fleeing danger at home.

At the end of the exhibition, modern travels, including voyages to space, are dealt with.

The "We're off then" exhibition runs until September the 29th.