As a child I fantasized about leaving my own head and settling for a while in that of a perfect stranger; the lady from the pharmacy, a boy on a bicycle, the man fishing in the lake near our house. I wanted to immerse myself in the world of that other person; I wanted to know what they had for breakfast, what their thoughts were, how they saw the world. I longed to escape from my own head, a longing that was rooted just as much in my imaginative powers as in a keen curiosity, a sense of adventure and a deep desire to connect with other people. I even had a name for it; I called it ‘crossing over’.

That desire to cross over has shaped my life; as soon as I finished high school I left home to live in other countries, learn other languages and discover other customs. Later, through art, I found the ultimate way to lose myself in the other, to take distance from who I am and see the world through the eyes of the artist.

It is only natural that my choice of artists reflects my passion to know about other cultures and to learn about other ways to express ourselves. What attracts me to the artists represented here is their very particular way of telling a story; they evoke their world not only by showing things but also by leaving things out, just as poets do. That way, we, the viewers, have a chance to continue imagining that other world, to be a poet ourselves, even if only for a couple of minutes.

I invite you to leave your own head while watching the videos, to cross over and see the world through the eyes of these artists. I am sure you will find, as I did, that by losing yourself in their work you will ultimately find yourself.

It is with great pleasure that I share my journey with the visitors of this exhibition. Just like the artists represented.