.annemarie.cilon
maps/walks
a walking project: the narrow road to the deep north
In 2014 I walked a part of the journey of Matsuo Basho 'Oku no Hosomichi' or Narrow Roads to the deep North. I put the lines of the original route of Basho on the map of Noord-Holland The Netherlands.
This walking tour is an unfinished project. I walked in different stages from my residence in Amsterdam to the area of Hoorn.
Basho was a Japanese poet and he lived from 1644-1694. He walked this journey from 1689-1691 from Edo to Hiraizumi (Island Honshu) and back through the Western side of the island to Edo (Tokyo). The distance of this journey was 2400 km.
In 2023/2024 I will walk from Kampen to the north of Groningen on the lines of Basho's journey. On some stages of this walk I will invite artists for a walk & talk.
The collection of these talks & walks I will collect in a publication. I will also add texts, maps, photo's and drawings.
"Where does it start? Muscles tense. One leg a pillar, holding the body upright between the earth and sky. The other a pendulum, swinging from behind. Heel touches down. The whole weight of the body rolls forward onto the ball of the foot. The big toe pushes off, and the delicately balanced weight of the body shifts again. The legs revers position.
It starts with a step and then another step and then another that add up
like taps on a drum to a rhythm, the rhythm of walking".
Rebecca Solnit
