Public radio’s longest-running daily global news program.AboutContactDonateMeet the TeamPrivacyTerms of use©2026 The World from PRXPRX is a 501(c)(3) organization recognized by the IRS: #263347402.How art augments a global walkNational Geographic Explorer Paul Salopek has been walking across continents for his project, the Out of Eden Walk. He describes the project as an exercise in what he calls “slow journalism.” But as he explains, journalists see the world very differently from how artists often do. That’s why it’s been important for him to walk with artists along the way. He tells Host Marco Werman what that adds to the project and about the Out of Eden Walk art exhibitions he has hosted. Out of Eden WalkJune 26, 2026Updated: June 26, 20267:22Curator Sooyoung Leam, Paul Salopek and exhibition artists give a talk at the opening of the WALKING KOREA exhibition in Seoul, South Korea.Making art is one of the most fundamental parts of being human. Exhibit A: The fact that the oldest artworks in the world — cave paintings — were made tens of thousands of years before the creation of writing. That’s why when National Geographic explorer Paul Salopek set off on his Out of Eden Walk, a journey on foot around the globe, he made sure to walk with artists along the way, looking at the connection between art and human migration. “Well, there were several. I walked with a bunch of artists in China. And just to provide context, I decided to include art in the walk. I’m a journalist, I’m a reporter … but as I get older, maybe it’s a factor of age, that journalism has limits in terms of understanding societies, understanding human restlessness,” Salopek told The World.Host Marco Werman continued to speak with Salopek about his time in China, when the first art exhibition on the Out of Eden Walk was introduced.Visual artist Han Qian (right) and walking partner Luke Luo trek through Dongbei. Han joined the Out of Eden Walk to investigate her family’s roots in the chilly region, formerly known as Manchuria, for a conceptual art project about the ideas of home and migration.Paul Salopek/National Geographic, Out of Eden WalkI think this project is kind of a magnet for people who are somewhat uncomfortable with the status quo, whatever that may be. It might be culturally, ideologically, society-wise. And so, artists are a natural segment of people. You know, artists generally tend to kind of be a bit uncomfortable with life, otherwise they wouldn’t ask probing questions like where to locate their life within the cosmos. So, it’s been a fantastic privilege to be able to tap into that energy, Marco, and walk with people like poets, with people who paint in India, with amazing landscape photographers in Turkey, with cinematography artists, video artists in South Korea. This is part of the thrill of the walk.That was pretty wild, the timing of that. So, these exhibitions take, as you might imagine, a bit of time to set up — months, right? And so, we have to find a local gallery, a local partner who might be a curator to help us sift through artists who might come walk with me. That’s part of the deal. And that was all done, and then literally the day before the opening of our exhibition was this attempted coup by the president, and the streets started to fill with hundreds of thousands of protesters. And so, I had an emergency phone call. I was kind of rushing back to Seoul to attend to this, and I called Sooyoung Leam, the curator, and said, “Are we going to go ahead with this?” And she said, “Absolutely. It’s even more important now than ever in terms of art supporting democracy.” So, it was a really amazing, amazing time to be showing young Korean artists, at the same time that there were protests just outside on the streets.Exhibition curator Sooyoung Leam at a massive pro-democracy rally in Seoul. The Out of Eden Walk exhibition coincided with a failed attempt by South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol to impose martial law on the country.Paul Salopek/National Geographic, Out of Eden WalkYeah, think about this, Marco. I think, you know, art, the impulse to be creative, is one of the fundamental attributes of being human. It’s as old as movement, right? We’re a walking species. We’re restless. We move around. We vote with our feet, usually to fill our bellies, right? Something very pragmatic. But we also ask ourselves, as a species, where we are and why we are here. These big, deep questions. So, art has paired with walking, going way back. There were the griots of Western Africa, the traveling storytellers who would pluck a thumb harp, walking between villages. There are ancient Greek poets, Chinese poets. Movement, travel was part of their methodology. So, I think I’m kind of not inventing anything new by including artists in this global walk. I think I’m actually harkening back to the original bedrock of what it means to be human.Parts of this interview have been lightly edited for length and clarity.Writer and National Geographic Explorer Paul Salopek has embarked on a 24,000-mile storytelling trek across the world called the “Out of Eden Walk.” The National Geographic Society, committed to illuminating and protecting the wonders of our world, has funded Salopek’s project since 2013. Explore the project here. Follow the journey on X at @PaulSalopek, @outofedenwalk.