Place/Space & Walking Art:     Applied Sociology through Art field-researcher Evgenia Kritikou will introduce you to the concept of walking art, the binary opposition of the terms place and space and how connections between the above can affect our sense of belonging. Together we will discuss a walker's immediate experience of the environment, from the aimless wandering of Baudelaire's flaneur to contemporary peripatetic artist's practices in connection with global issues such as migration and climate change. By reflecting on our own experiences and views on walking, we will discuss obstacles some may face, as well as benefits of walking to identity and community empowerment. 

Our discussion and the title of this project brought to my mind peripatetic (walking) art, to which I was originally introduced by my professor Yannis ZIogas. I would like to make a presentation on the concept of walking art, through various examples, from 19th century Baudelaire's concept of flaneur to Charles Dicken's "Boz" and contemporary two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Paul Salopek's Out Of Eden Walk, a 21,000-mile odyssey on foot. Afterwards, through discussing the difference between the terms place (geographic location) and space (a location that bears cultural, personal or emotional meanings), we will reflect and discuss how walking in our neighborhood as a practice or a form of art may affect our sense of belonging and empower our bonds with our community.