I have been asking different people to send me images or stories which describe their way of understanding the nomadic. I am curious about the multitude of ways that the nomadic appears in contemporary(global) experience- including migrant labor, business travel and relocation, spiritual engagement, as brought on by natural disaster or war and in its archaic/ traditional forms. I sense this figure is related to a feeling of precariousness shared by many, and at the same time is deeply desired. I am wondering about the places (and contradictions) where these conditions meet the more aesthetic, ethical and philosophical versions of nomadism as laid out by Rosi Braidotti, Miwon Kwan, Deleuze and Guattari. I am also interested in the idea that the nomad, though itinerant, follows some kind of a pattern, that has to do with sustenance.  

One of the things I have been doing with the images I have been collecting is making quick ink paintings of them, on 19 inch square paper in various skin/earth/spice colors. I consider this painting as a form of note-taking. The images are allowed to sit off the center of the page with irregular edges in an attempt to refer to a thing and its itinerant representation simultaneously. The images become artifacts again. The project is also a way of manifesting and acknowledging networks of influential ideas and social relationships which inform me as an artist. It is an embodiment of a collective sensibility - the idea that images are collectively made. It is also a response to feeling despondent about googling for source material. I feel the images I collect this way are far more specific, singular and interesting than what I find searching the internet.  

Please Send Images or Stories to ranu.nomad@gmail.com

Arabian Sands, Fred Dolan From 1945-1950  Wildfred Thesiger , a European born in Addis Ababa explored  the Empty Quarter of Arabia with its nomadic peoples. At the tail end  of his journey oil was being discovered and the region transformed completely soon afterwards. He wrote about his journeys as a memorial and tribute to the Bedu and the once Empty Quarter. His work was a basic source for much of Gilles Deleuze's reflections on nomadism.	Gypsy Shoes, Gabrielle Francis Rajasthani Gypsy shoes, from the collection of my holistic doctor, who brings together medicine from many cultures while at the same time paying close attention to the particularitiesof each individual she treats.
Durga Altar, Mukherjee's and Banerjee's of Calcutta During a visit to Calcutta in 2002, I was told the story of children carrying gold on their bodies during their passage from Dacca, across the East Pakistan (now Bangladeshi) border, to Calcutta. I took this picture of my family altar. The elder woman telling me the story explained that the Goddess Durga was responsible for their safe passage across the border.	Nomad Garden, Phil Ross This five thousand year old nomad garden, a model of a date palm interior court- is on a voyage from Egypt to New York's Metropolitan Museum. If it lasts another five thousand years it will probably live in a few more places.
Camper Van, Elizabeth Setten Winstead As a way of giving their children an immersive Spanish language education and cultural experience in Mexico - as well as offsetting the cost of living in Northern California, the Winstead's spend a few months in the winter living in a camper van in the south of Mexico.	Airplane Interior 2010, Randy Lee Cutler