Freedom Track
- an inquiry into freedom -

The Freedom Track project is to conduct a photo documentary journey by road from Norway to Dhaka in Bangladesh in connection with Asia’s largest fotofestival, Chobi Mela V, starting January 29th 2009. The festival’s theme is Freedom.

The journey’s aim is to explore how people I meet along the road from Norway to Bangladesh defines the word Freedom.
The result will be presented as an exhibition during the festival in Dhaka.

My starting point is Norway and the Nordic Countries, then onward through Eastern Europe, former East Block Countries through Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, India and Nepal to Bangladesh. (See Reiserute)

The countries I will be traveling through all have a history of wars and occupations, and I believe, without knowing, that the people living in these countries will have different opinions and understandings of the word Freedom than most people from the west.

The Chobi Mela Photo festival is now held for the fifth time.

See www.chobimela.com for more information on the festival which means “photo meeting”.

There will be made a collection of the perceptions of the the word / term Freedom through an exhibition that will be presented at the festival.
The exhibition will be produced and finished on the road, and the idea is to have everything ready for presentation as I reach Dhaka.

Second part of the project will be when I return to Norway with an extended bulk of material after a journey home through a different corridor. This journey will be planed later

I travel alone driving a Land Rover Defender and will try to share my travel experiences along the way on this Blogg.

There has been created a group on Facebook where I invite everyone I don’t meet to post their definitions of the word Freedom. Please visit.

Tom Hatlestad