Native Land

Created by the Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain, the exhibition Native Land, Stop Eject proposes a dialogue between filmmaker Raymond Depardon and philosopher Paul Virilio on the notions of being rooted and uprooted today, an epoch in which human migration flows are taking place on an unprecedented scale. In his film Hear Them Speak, created with Claudine Nougaret, Raymond Depardon gives a voice to those who wish to remain on their land but are threatened with exile. Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Mark Hansen, Laura Kurgan, and Ben Rubin give form to Paul Virilio's concepts in six dynamic maps which examine new trends in contemporary human movement due to environmental, political, and economic factors. The texts included here, published for the first time in the catalog Native Land, Stop Eject (Prix Nomad's 2009), offer a chance to explore the themes raised in the exhibition. Accompanied by exhibition views, they incite contemplation on the meaning of sedentariness and nomadism, as well as related questions of identity.