Reading Geert Vermeire‘s latest newsletter, I was struck with how important walking art and walking artists have been in acknowledging those unfortunate people who have had to leave their homes, often migrating over vast distances, or switching to cultures unlike their own, learning new languages and how to get about day to day among people, many of whom resent you being among them.

Geert and many other walking artists, too many to mention by name, but you know who you are, have been at the forefront of creating opportunities for artists to create walking work that honours migrants and refugees. Working with Yannis Ziogas, himself a beacon in walking art, they have created the Prespa International Walking Arts Encounters that have run every two years since 2019. For any of you not yet a Prespa participant, we encourage you to come there and participate.

“Walking Home / Walking in Transition” are the guiding themes for the 2025 Prespa International Walking Arts Encounters, inviting the global community of walking artists to gather in Prespa next July. These themes serve as an umbrella, encompassing a wide range of ideas that define walking arts today, and contributing to the vibrant, diverse communal art space that Prespa has fostered since 2019.

“Walking Home / Walking in Transition” are a direct reference to the millions of people on the move around the world—whether as refugees or migrants. The open call for the event and this blog post is published to coincide with International Migrants Day, celebrated on December 18. This day highlights the struggles and stories of the hundreds of millions of migrants globally, drawing attention to the complex challenges they face. War, climate disasters, and economic pressures continue to force people to leave their homes in search of safety or opportunity. Tragically, last year saw the highest number of migrant deaths in transit. However, even amid these hardships, people on the move also bring stories of resilience, hope, and strength.

As Geert writes in the newsletter, “Walking, as an artistic practice, is also a symbol of transition. Once associated with landscape painting, philosophy, and literature, walking emerged as an independent art form in the second half of the 20th century. In the late 1960s, it became a medium showing a new and spiritual understanding of our relationship to land. Walking as art became a means to connect deeply with the earth, fostering empathy and a greater sense of ecological awareness.”

The  European WALC project (Walking Arts and Local Communities) that launched earlier this year, is underwriting the importance of the Prespa Encounters to create physical and online spaces throughout Europe (and beyond) exploring the social implications of walking and its relationship to modern and contemporary art practices.

As Geert writes: “As an evolving art form, walking itself is on the move—an art that migrates”.