Doors to the future
an audio-visual installation inviting imagination for more humane migration futures
'Doors to the Future' is an adaptable, site-specific installation and convening space
bringing people with diverse border experiences together
to imagine more humane futures for migration.
Led by artist-researcher, Dr. Carolyn Defrin, the project is made in collaboration with several artists, scholars, migrants, humanitarian aid workers, immigration lawyers and mediation specialists across Greece, Spain, Austria, the UK and beyond.
THREE CORE ELEMENTS
(DESIGNED TOGETHER OR ALONE)
the Doors
Audiences are invited to experience five pink doors: some that open, some that remain closed and some with no door at all, only a frame.
Each door contains a unique QR code, giving way to an immersive headphone-audio experience envisioning how we might access more humane futures. Exploring relationships to ourselves, each other and the world around us, these pieces invite reflection and contemplation within the landscape of migration and beyond.
Co-created with five participants with lived experience of the border—as lawyers, educators, migrants, humanitarian aid, and camp workers—the audio pieces emerged from workshops held over a year on the island of Samos, Greece. Responding to widespread exhaustion with crisis-driven discourse, the workshops prioritised connection and future world-building, creating space to look forward together beyond the silos of current border policy.
The installation premiered 14-15 February, 2026 at Skills Factory– an organization run by the NGO, selfm.aid, which independently produces humanitarian aid with migrants through social work and handicraft. Skills Factory's maintenance team built each of the doors (which are now being repurposed as desks for their media programme) and they also collaborated on the first test of 'The Hallway' described below.
Listen to each door's audio:
Creative Team
ALTER-SONIK ARTS COLLECTIVE
Carolyn Defrin, Concept direction, sound edit & design, writing, facilitation
Joey Galanos, Co-direction/writing, cultural mediator
Ezedin Petros, Writer, performer, cinematography
Donata, Writer, performer, photography
Melina Papageorgiou, Writer, performer
Alexia-Maria Yiakkoupi, Writer, performer
Olga Gioti, Writer, performer
Giannis Drakos, Collaborator, painter
Francisca Campos de Andrade, Collaborator
Zen Chrysakis, Music
Kevin O'Donnell, Music and sound design
SKILLS FACTORY
Katherina Scholle, Co-project manager
Jasper Duivenstijn, Co-project manager
Ezedin Petros, Community Coordinator
Benedicte Schroijen, Build team
Sultan Rashed, Build team
Kamal Ozbek, Build team
Mohamed Shamsa, Build team
Abbas Mousavi, Build team
Mohammed Mohammed, Build team
Jasper Duivenstijn, Build team
The KEYS
Created over WhatsApp in collaboration with the Elastic Borders team at the University of Graz (Austria), and a group of 35 artist-scholar-migrants from the US, Mexico, Europe, the UK and Africa, this aspect of the project is currently in process. The growing archive of multimedia micro-artworks exists as sets of pairs:
-
the first artwork expresses wisdom from the past (arrived at through listening to music from our grandparents' generation)
-
the second artwork expresses a vision of a possible future world, inspired by the wisdom from the first artwork
While a stand-alone installation, these artworks form a critical element in "The Hallway" convening space, designed to bring pairs of participants together with the pairs of artworks to discuss and generate more future imagination for migration.
Premiering at "Camps, Belonging, and Abolition Democracy,"
the 3rd Graz/Puerto Rico International Conference on Human Rights
4 June- 7 June 2026, University of Graz, Austria
the Hallway
Within the installation, the project inhabits the metaphor of a 'hallway': a liminal passage between doors that open into unexpected places, where brief encounters have the potential for lasting impact.
In this space, groups of people with different experiences of borders and migration convene to explore how future imagination can impact present-day social-relational dynamics. The following core elements comprise each hallway session and can be adapted to different time formats.
ART FIRST- guests are invited to experience the installation before convening.
SHARED MEAL- guests share a meal with each other early on in the session to facilitate getting to know each other
FACILITATED DIALOGUE - guests engage in small groups, pairs and larger group discussions around specific facilitated topics
MAKE MORE ART- guests are invited to create new artworks to add to the growing archive of future migration imagination
COMMITMENTS OF CONNECTION- guests decide on small acts of connection they can create for the future. These commitments are written down and contribute to a growing archive for how migration futures can lead to connection, rather than division.
This concept was first tested with the launch of 'the Doors' in Samos, Greece in February 2026. In our first collaboration with Skills Factory, who hosted the event, their kitchen team prepared a 'menu for the future' and then joined about 20 additional participants– inclusive of NGO workers, artists, scholars and local community members in Samos for conversations (translated between Greek, English and Arabic).
Hallway 1.0
Facilitated by Carolyn Defrin
Greek translation by Olga Gioti & Joey Galanos
Arabic translation by Mousa
Menu for the future designed and prepared by:
Michael Logan
Mahmood Al Ahmed
Hassan Ibrahim
Mohammed Al Daoos
Jan Agha Waziri
Saleh Alwan
Khalil Khalil ALASH