QUIET CROSSINGS (Syria, Lebanon, 2008-2010)

In the 21st century the countryside and the city are inseparably intertwined. The Kurdish migrants who George Awde followed for his series QUIET CROSSINGS are proof of that. Because of po-litical and social-economic circumstances they feel they have to leave their rural communities in Syria and seek work in big cities. Many go to Beirut, where they perform thankless work and are the invisible pillars of the Lebanese economy. While the men are treated like slaves in Lebanon, on their semi-annual visits home they are greatly esteemed. For them being a man means to earn money to send back home, save enough for a marriage, and strive for personal independence. The countryside represents not only nostalgia for their lost youth, but also the dream of a Kurdish state of their own and the knowledge that the past gives them strength to meet the tribulations of the pre-sent.