Walking the Milky Way
A friend recently introduced me to Luis Buñuel’s The Milky Way, (1969), a wonderful, highly eccentric, work of walking art. The film focuses on two drifters on a surreal pilgrimage along the Camino de Santiago (often called the Milky Way after the band of stars that is said to guide travellers). As they walk, they meet saints and heretics, fall into theological debates, and wander through centuries of belief and contradiction. It’s a journey where the destination is less important than the ideas and encounters on the path.
This summer I’ll be taking part in a sort of pilgrimage as I attend the Prespa Walking Arts Encounters (WAC25), in north-western Greece. Pilgrimage has found new resonance in recent times as many seek escape from the emptiness of precarious jobs and the disconnection of digital life. But Prespa offers more than personal renewal. Artists and writers converge from around the world to create connections: between people, place and memory, on the footsteps of an ancient Roman way.
The art of paying attention – of walking slowly through a landscape, guided not by grand designs but by subtle signs, like the stars that once led pilgrims – invites a quiet, restorative form of healing. This sensibility stands in stark contrast to the heroic, often aggressive stance of much 20th-century art, with its manifestos, grand gestures, and desire to impose a singular vision upon the world. Thanks to support from the EU, WALC (Walking Arts and Local Communities), a network of partners, helps bring this vision to life. At its best, WAC25 is a shared pilgrimage of attention and connection, not a solitary journey or one led by a single voice.
Meanwhile, this week, we’ve got a treat for walkers who prefer to travel with their canine companions: join us online Monday 9 June for Walking America as host Ann de Forest chats with poet Susan M. Schultz and walking artist Ernesto Pujol about how dogs shape the way we walk – and write.
And don’t forget you can read (and listen to) each of the 39 stories selected by our judges from our recent micro-flash fiction competition – and join us Sunday 22 June – for live readings. Tickets here.
Read on for details of upcoming events and featured work.
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Writer, walker, digital storyteller, psychogeographer
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Supported by:
Echoes
ECHOES specialises in geolocative audio. Our free platform allows creators to make and publish incredible GPS-triggered walking experiences. We also create apps which focus on sound and location, like The Royal Parks and The Royal Academy’s collaborative ‘Music for Trees’ app.
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Free for supporting members, open to everyone
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2025-06-09 19:00
· Online
Does walking with a dog enhance the experience of walking? If so, in what way? For poet Susan M. Schultz and walking artist and writer Ernesto Pujol, walking with dogs offers a means to meander, to shift perspective, and to marvel again and again at the oddity of the humans they encounter, sometimes affable, sometimes ... Keep reading
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2025-06-22 16:30
· Online
39 Steps Writers’ Showcase event introduces new writing from 19 authors in our micro-flash fiction writing competition and includes readings of their prose. Run in conjunction with Sampson Low Publishers, with a special prize given by Caroline Gannon, the walk · listen · create writing competition attracted scores of e... Keep reading
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Latest walking pieces
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A silent walk in three parts over 13 months up the Nooksack River: an anti-survey and visceral confrontation with foundational architectures of settler-colonization in Whatcom County (US), territories of the Lhaq’temish and Nuxwsá7aq nations. Keep reading
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An installation in Central Park consisting on 7,503 gates with 4.87 meters (16 feet) hight and variable widths, each one holding a saffron colored fabric from the top part of the frame. The gates were installed alongside 37 kilometers (23 miles) of walkways where people were invited to walk by. Keep reading
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In Search of the Miraculous (One Night in Los Angeles) (1973) is a series of fourteen photographs documenting a walk by the artist into the LA night. Keep reading
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My walking drawing practice is an exploration of forms of thinking, feeling and knowing. Keep reading
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Walking and drawing as a method to detect and record sensorial input. What do I know of my surroundings in the moment of encounter and how is this shaped by memory? Keep reading
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I asked the guests to leave the official event area of the performing arts festival at Cordillera space Berlin in the fenced garden by jumping over the fence. The guests jumped after me. Keep reading
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The walking performance is based on the principle of radio fox hunting, whereby participants navigate by seeking out a hidden radio microphone buried deep in the forest. Keep reading
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Latest podcast episodes
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Join @thebuzzknight with Adam Met, bassist of the chart-topping band AJR and a passionate advocate for sustainability and social change. In this episode, Adam share... Start listening
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Join @thebuzzknight with the author of the new book Richard Manuel: His Life and Music, from the Hawks and Bob Dylan to The Band, Stephen T Lewis. For the first tim... Start listening
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Join Host Lynn Hoffman for the episode of Music Saved Me with the former frontman from the band Hinder, Austin John Winkler. He has a new project called “the Founde... Start listening
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The great Peggy Seeger is Matthew’s guest on this month’s show as she prepares to celebrate her 90th birthday later this month. She says her current tour and album ... Start listening
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Join @thebuzzknight with the iconic musician, singer-songwriter Steve Earle. In this episode Buzz converses with Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Steve Earle. Earl... Start listening
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Join @thebuzzknight and @theharryjacobs for another look at music history for the week of 6-2.. A Note to our Community Your support means everything to us! As we... Start listening
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Upcoming events
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2025-06-09 19:00
· Online
Does walking with a dog enhance the experience of walking? If so, in what way? For poet Susan M. Schultz and walking artist and writer Ernesto Pujol, walking with d... Keep reading
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16 - 22 Jun, 2025
· Online
Song of the Path depicts moments of being in landscape and following a route. Come and saunter through colourful lavender fields, admire spring blossom, follow a ri... Keep reading
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2025-06-19 10:00
· 44AD artspace, Abbey Street, Bath, UK
Workshop Leaders:
Rosie Montford’s exhibition ‘Song of the Path’ is on at Gallery 44AD. Her practice explores the dialogue between walking and drawing, seeking out... Keep reading
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2025-06-19 13:00
· University of Brighton City Campus, Grand Parade, Brighton and Hove, Brighton, UK
An afternoon sharing listening and creative wellbeing approaches to sustainable place-making with international researchers and artists at The Waste House at Bright... Keep reading
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From our network
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~ The Greatest Hero Of Them All / Thomas The Tank Engine ~ when I was just a little boy of all the things that I enjoyed was when my grandma read to me at night or ... Keep reading
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What could be more pleasing than an evening of extracts from George Eliot’s diaries and novels read by Hermione Norris (Cold Feet, Spooks, The Salt Path) and acto... Keep reading
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Early morning light on tree roots of red river gums (Eucalyptus camaldulensis,) in Benbibuta Creek in the northern Flinders Ranges of South Australia. They were mad... Keep reading
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I’ve put together a new series of zines (free to download, paid if you want paper copies): Shifting the Overton Window. Check it out! This zine series is inspired b... Keep reading
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A rather Welsh story: the Siloh Chapel in Borth closed for business in
1994. Along with most chapels it had its own war memorial, and this
was transplanted to t... Keep reading
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Some fun news from earlier this spring: I learned that both Hennepin County Library in Minneapolis and Baylor University Book Arts Collection in Texas have acquired... Keep reading
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WALC
Walking Arts & Local Communities (WALC) is an artistic cooperation project, co-funded by the European Union, Creative Europe, starting in January 2024 for four years. With seven partners from five countries, WALC establishes an International Center for Artistic Research and Practice of Walking Arts, in Prespa, Greece, at the border with Albania and North Macedonia, backed up by an online counterpart in the format of a digital platform for walking arts.
Stuff we found
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“Step After Step” examines social and political through the art of walking. Source: ‘Step After Step’ walks through social and political themes – Park Record... Keep reading
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Photographer Quintin Lake spent five years walking the coast of mainland Britain. He explains why the coast tells Britain’s story better than anywhere else. Source:... Keep reading
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You don’t need to hit 10,000 daily steps to reap benefits. Source: How to Trick Yourself Into Taking a Walk – The New York Times Keep reading
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A museum removed a piece by Māori artist Diane Prince that invited viewers to walk on the New Zealand flag. Source: Museum Removes Māori Artist’s ‘Walk on Me’ New Z... Keep reading
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