Born 1985 in Thailand, Orawan Arunrak has lived and worked in a variety of Asian countries. Her stay in Berlin as an artist-in-residence brought her to the West for the first time. Although she did not experience a “culture shock”, her work in the German capital put the spotlight on questions of identity and home. She focused more on what unites cultures and what they have in common, rather than searching for what divides them. In an attempt to get to know the local community, Arunrak talked to a great many chance acquaintances.

The book documents her closing exhibition at Künstlerhaus Bethanien where the artist presented recordings and transcripts of her conversations. In a kind of Babel of languages the different people entered into a fictitious dialogue with the visitors.