“You must know
that talking to oneself
is the purpose of language
and that wandering thoughts
are the very meaning of poetry”
Gao Xingjian from “Wandering Spirit, Meditative Thoughts. All the Poems”, La Nave di teseo, Milan 2024
The oxymoron Urban/Nomadic opens up the opportunity for a comparison between what can be defined in contemporary terms as urbanus, established and structured, networked and connected, and what is wandering spirit and meditative thought, vagabond language, but also adapted, changeable and related, intersecting and interacting, tangible and intangible heritage (the latter often nomadic by definition and in some ways elusive). Urban vs Nomadic leads to comparisons such as: standardised/adaptive, concentration/distraction, identity/inclusive, superfluous/necessary.
