Ralf Homann

No voice over / Toe the scratch

The radio piece will deal with the intersection (intersección) of migration and (social) mobility focusing the current situation in the Region of Murcia and of South

Mediterranean.  No voice over / Toe the scratch is a remix of three explorations of Invisible Boundaries, ‘Identity is a Paranormal Practice by Bureaucracy’ and Weddings.

Homann is interested in gates (and doormen), in spaces which seems open like commuters trains or ferries, but are restricted to migrants, in public sites which divide into rich and poor areas. Invisibility of boundaries or their visibility respectively depends on having know-how or not.

The term ‘Identity is a Paranormal Practice by Bureaucracy’, refer back to techniques Spain invented in 16th century to European Culture: The idea of Passenger (instead of a pilgrim, lansquenet or roamer), the idea of a huge register of such passengers which links the body to a script and the script to a private identity generated by red tape proceedings of copying and transcription.

Nowadays marriage is (back) in a strong political fight: European Union migration and border policies restrict marriages between European and non European citizens declaring new laws on so called “unconsummated marriage” (matrimonio putativo), and marriages are part of internal national disputes over homosexuals’ equal rights.

In Europe to enter into marriage is a rich metaphor: private, intimate and socially. It stands for the belief in the future, romantic love or marriage-of-convenience, a new step into a social or economic (or religious) status of personal or social life; in a wider relationship it means the next generation, for instance the second generation of migrants.

This research will investigate current impact of wedding in a post-colonial Europe of open borders and the desires of the young living in the Region of Murcia, migrants and natives, and their utopian visions concerning marriage and beyond.