Between 25th and 29th of May DOMO (Deutsche Organisation für Mosaikkunst) hosted the International Mosaic Days. Mosaicists from all over the world travelled to the beautiful spa town of Bad Dürkheim, in the Rhineland-Palatinate district. With its seven mineral springs, a spa park, and plenty of Eiscafés and wine bars, Bad Dürkheim is a vibrant town with a summer atmosphere about it. Its people are friendly and welcoming, bratwurst doesn’t disappoint and local Riesling is on point. Also fun fact: Bad Dürkheim it’s a host to the largest wine festival in the world that takes place in a parking lot under the largest wine barrel in the world.

The five day event kicked off with the opening of "The Order and the Chaos – Culture & Patterns from a Contemporary Perspective” a juried exhibition combining fine art and mosaics. With 60 participating artists, the large hall of the 18th century Burgkirche served as a perfect backdrop for displaying a variety of mosaics answering to the following questions:

“Ever since people have lived together, patterns have accompanied life – be it in cultural, religious or everyday coexistence. Spaces, objects and surfaces are designed. It corresponds to the primal need of human beings. What does this do to society? Does it bring order to a feared, chaotic world view? Are there instructions or meanings that resonate in the design? Is it an expression of a group, a culture or a society? Or is the design the result of all of this? How are we linked to patterns and cultures?”

Patterns as the expressions of cultures. It made me think of all the dark days and how I originally felt concepting the Silence series. And how even this event has been moved a few times due to COVID. It was so freeing to be able to travel abroad. To stand there in front of a welcoming audience receiving an award made me feel appreciated and appreciative of all the effort that goes into organising such events. Making art can sometimes feel lonely and it was just what I needed: a lecture day jam packed with inspirational and practical stories, a full day mosaic trip which is my favourite kind of tourism. Sometimes to be better artists we need to open our eyes and ears, but most of all we need a community.

And as I sat there watching a public mosaic being created out of smaller individually submitted mosaics, I felt moved, I felt energised, I felt truly inspired by the people that keep creating in spite of all the darkness.