Mobilistan (2021-2024)
MOBILISTAN
- an art project by Christian Manss & Manaf Halbouni
Manaf Halbouni and Christian Manss declared the first mobile state in the world in the limited space of a vehicle on September 15th, 2021 in Berlin.
What is a state? What is its territory? Do we accept the way they are defined? Who will need to recognize us, besides us ourselves?
These are questions that keep reappearing in history. A case in point is the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, a de facto state in the north of the island of Cyprus that is not recognized by the international community except for Turkey – but the state does in fact exist. And it is not the only one of its kind: There are South Ossetia, Abkhazia, Artsakh or Transnistria, to name but a few. And, as an example from the realm of art: there is the art collective NSK (Neue Slowenische Kunst) that in 1992 declared their transformation from a collective into a state ("State in Time"). All examples show that to create facts, a declaration of sovereignty as a state is often sufficient, acceptance by some majority is not mandatory. Viewed objectively, a state is nothing more than a social administrative structure.
Our project MOBILISTAN is to be understood as a purely ART PROJECT dealing with issues of mobility, territorial limits, recognition, marginalization, freedom to travel and the desire to belong. Mobilistan is established on the area of a state limousine, thus forming the territory that can be entered or exited through the doors of the vehicle. Mobilistan has its own flag, anthem and passport. There are four permanent residents of Mobilistan, playing simultaneously several roles like State President, Foreign Secretary, Minister of Finance, Interior Minister etc. The four permanent residents are: Barbara Repe, Anne Manss, Manaf Halbouni and Christian Manss. They will determine the fortunes of Mobilistan: who is allowed to become a citizen, who gets a visa or where is the temporary location of Mobilistan.
The art state MOBILISTAN and its partners, the “Center for Persecuted Arts” and the “Mahalla Festival”, are supported by the Allianz Kulturstiftung and the IFA (Institute for Foreign Relations).
Trailer of the documentary film "Mobilistan" by Ana Stanic and produced by Natasha Davis. The film has been commissioned by Counterpoints Arts as part of Across Borders initiative and realised in collaboration with Allianz Kulturstiftung.
The film traces the first official state tour of Mobilistan across European borders in the turbulent and uncertain Covid pandemic summer of 2021.
Mobilistan is the first ever mobile state limited to the space of a single vehicle. An art project dealing with the issues of mobility, territorial limits, marginalisation, freedom to travel and the desire to belong. The state is the limousine and the limousine is the state, whose territory can only be entered or exited through the doors of the vehicle.
This does not, however, preclude Mobilistan from having its own flag, anthem and passport.
Follow the state leaders on red carpets from Berlin to Dresden, Prague, Vienna, Zagreb, Sofia, Istanbul, Wroclaw, Krakow and Solingen.
Did it all go smoothly? Did the state ever run out of oil? Did it encounter any climate challenges and did any neighbouring state leaders offer help or support? All diplomatic blunders and successes, planned or improvised, hidden or displayed, are revealed in the film, alongside the onlookers’ thoughts and observations, and a few surprises.
Mobilistan performance and tour were realised in cooperation with Allianz Kulturstiftung.