Interventions in shop-windows of vacant buildings: Hans–Gasser-Platz 2, Karlgasse 8, Hauptplatz 10 9500 Villach

One of the declared goals of the project Mapping the Unseen is to make visible topics, which are often swept under the carpet. Thus, different vacant buildings in the center of Villach are designed by the text artist Sheida Samyi.

The refugee crisis, then and now, is the focus of the artistic debate: When thousands of people left their homes five years ago to escape war, rape, political persecution or ethnic cleansing, the question arose as to how much space is given to refugees and who creates this space. A question that continues to this day and is once again highly topical due to the fire in the refugee camp Moria on the Greek island of Lesbos.

Sheida Samyi is an artist, poet, graphic designer; born in 1966 in Klagenfurt; trained as a computer graphic designer in New York and Los Angeles. As a text artist, she developed her own, unmistakable typeface "Duplikatenzen" that can be read from both sides. Her inscribed objects, photo and video installations emphasize the ambiguity of words and their mutability with the respective environment. Since 2008 she is living and working in Villach.

The intervention is taking place in public space during the entire duration of the event in Villach.