‘Trailing Spouses’ is an art collective located in Bielefeld, Germany. This group uses visual arts and other means of self-expression to investigate issues faced by us ‘Trailing Spouses’ in relation to our new life situation, explicitly feelings of belonging and identity.

The group works together in order to share ideas, provide inspiration, and look for creative expressions of our common life situation. We meet up twice a month to talk, learn new techniques, see interesting art exhibits and hear stimulating presentations.

The group chooses themes for dialogue for each meeting and between the meetings each member works on their artwork. At the monthly meetings we look at the art works and discuss the chosen issues further. The group operates in shared leadership and determines its own nature along the way, keeping the topic of identity and belonging at the core of the project.

At a later point of the project an exhibition of the artwork created during the project will be held.

The collective is formed of the following elements:

• Ateliers, where we discuss and brainstorm the topics of the inquiry. These Ateliers take place once a month.
  
• Workshops, are separate to the Ateliers as they offer technical assistance on various visual arts methods, such as visual diaries, sketching, photography, etc. Members take it in turns to give the workshops.
  
• Excursions, a programme of visits to art exhibitions and other events initiated by the members is ongoing.
  
• Visitors, a programme of visiting artists and researchers is designed to broaden up the investigation area.