A wide range of languages have adopted some form of the Arabic word "musafir," including Romanian, Turkish, Farsi, Urdu, Hindi, Swahili, Kazakh, Malay and Uyghur, among others, showing how the term has traveled all the way to East Asia in one direction, and through parts of Africa in the other. Throughout these diverse cultural spaces, the term usually still refers to its original meaning, "traveler." But in some languages, such as Turkish and Romanian, it has come to mean "guest." The intersection of these two ideas — seeing the traveler as a welcomed guest — has inspired a new exhibition at the Haus der Kulturen der Weltin Berlin. Titled "Musafiri: Of Travelers and Guests," the contemporary art show and research project revolves around questions of travel and hospitality: Throughout history, how were the world's travelers greeted by the people they encountered? What can we learn from different cultures' traditions and policies of hospitality towards visitors? And how can they inspire a modern, pluralistic world where travelers and migrants feel welcome? These questions are timeless, "but it is rather urgent" to look into them today, "in a time when traveling is not an easy thing. In a time when we see the mounting of walls, of fortresses, of massive deportations, we must come back to these basic things," said the director of the Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, at the press presentation of the exhibition.
