WORLD’S ENDS (2019-2025)
Since 2018, Karin Schmuck's long-term project World’s Ends has been dedicated to places that were considered the ‘ends of the world’ in ancient times. It is conceived as a personal odyssey spanning about a decade and combines hiking, photography and research on myths, history and the present. Each stage consists of several days (or even weeks) of walking through historically charged landscapes and culminates in a separate cycle of works.
The journey began in 2019 at the Strait of Gibraltar - a place that symbolises departure and migration. Two years later, it continued to the Strait of Messina, where the focus was on the experience of the dilemma between two extremes. In 2022, the route led to the coast of Galicia, the legendary ‘end of the world’, marked by questions of new beginnings, transience and fertility. Finally, in 2023, the focus was on the Bosphorus, that unique connection between Europe and Asia, which builds bridges between cultures and continues to play an important role as a place of exchange and mediation. In 2025, the westernmost point of the European mainland, where the ancient Romans worshipped the ocean and the sun. The sixth stage is planned for 2026 around the Strait of Sicily.
The photographic works combine walking and seeing into an act of recognition: through slow hiking, Karin Schmuck appropriates the landscapes, linking them to ancient myths, contemporary literature and personal experience. The result is images that oscillate between reality and symbolism, while at the same time raising questions about borders, migration, loss and new beginnings.
‘World's Ends’ continues to grow with each stage. Photography is not only used for documentation, but also becomes a means of making experiences, stories and moods visible. Viewers are presented with images that interweave past and present, reveal boundaries and transitions, and invite them to pause and reflect. They encourage viewers to take a closer look, to connect the places with their own questions - and perhaps to see the world a little differently.
Biography
Karin Schmuck (* 1981), lives and works in Bolzano (Italy). She studied painting in Urbino (Italy) and photography in Bologna (Italy). She has won several awards and exhibited in Germany and abroad. For several years, the artist has been working on long-term projects that take her on foot to borders and remote places, resulting in photographic works, drawings and multimedia installations.