VIOLA MAIWALD

where no one has been before

What means home?
Home, almost everyone feels, believes, knows or thinks of it.
It exists nowhere and yet it is still the center of human existence.
It is the place of childhood, security and safety.
Home is not static and can also be won anew.
It is an element of active confrontation, a feeling and, in the worst case, a supposed possession.
Or does home remain, in the end, just an urge for something to stay at after one has left?

For my work „Where no one has been before“ I went to the mountains of Austria
to enter into a dialogue on the subject of home. An exchange is created between the images,
nature and the people who once lived in the Ötztal and also reflect on home through their quotes.

'For me, home is not so much a place — it is a feeling, it is people, it is security.'

'For me there are two different homes, one is the physical place where I have my bed and where I usually sleep....
And the other is more what you feel, what is more in your head.'

'In the Ötztal or especially in Obergurgl will always be my roots, I grew up there and they have given me a strong hold.
But my wings are not there, I have the feeling that if I am somewhere else and I am away, then I can spread my wings.'

'For many people, home is probably also where they grew up. Because so much happens there throughout life.
So as a child, and what you experience there. That shapes you.'

'When I left, I got into the flow a little bit, where you go with the flow of life.
I took the step, the first step is the most difficult, and then all of a sudden everything opens up.
To me it was like when you open the door and you‘re open, then all of a sudden you see the whole picture more clearly.'

where no one has been before

'For me, home is not so much a place — it is a feeling, it is people, it is security.'

For me there are two different homes, one is the physical place where I have my bed and where I usually sleep.... And the other is more what you feel, what is more in your head.

In the Ötztal or especially in Obergurgl will always be my roots, I grew up there and they have given me a strong hold. But my wings are not there, I have the feeling that if I am somewhere else and I am away, then I can spread my wings.

'For many people, home is probably also where they grew up. Because so much happens there throughout life. So as a child, and what you experience there. That shapes you.'

When I left, I got into the flow a little bit, where you go with the flow of life. I took the step, the first step is the most difficult, and then all of a sudden everything opens up. To me it was like when you open the door and you‘re open, then all of a sudden you see the whole picture more clearly.