Migration is a political battleground of the present. National borders and isolation dominate debates, while individual people are easily overlooked. Why do people leave their homes? Where do they go? How do they arrive in surroundings that are initially foreign to them?
Migration is nothing new. Quite the contrary, people have always left their homes – voluntarily or against their will. When leaving, on the move, and arriving, faith often plays a central role: It knows neither nations nor borders, and is often decisive for preserving and negotiating migrant identities.
Constance has also been shaped by migration, faith, and identity. The city was not only the site of the famous Council of Constance, it has also been an immigration destination from antiquity to the present day. People from 168 nations currently live in the city, and traces of a wide variety of religions and cult practices can be found in the historic cityscape.
Our aim is to make these contexts visible and tangible, and recount them through the stories of six fictional individuals who arrived in or left the city of Constance. Their faces are AI-generated, but their respective stories are based on sources and real events.