In Borders We Trust

Exhibition at Mikser Festival
Belgrade, Serbia
2016

Borders are primarily a mental construct.
Just like a deity, they exist only insofar as People believe in them.
Question is however how necessary our belief in their existence is and when exactly does that belief start harming us?

At which point do borders cease to be a convenient orientation marker, a helpful tool for the comprehension of the land we inhabit, a common identifier for the construction of a shared identity?

At which point do borders become a dogmatic limitation to imagination, a terrifying prison for the body and mind, a symbol and support of hatred?

Borders do not possess an inherent bad or good character, on the contrary they are a malleable concept subject to appropriation and interpretation.

“In borders we trust” examines the perception, physical manifestation and enforcement of the couple formed by People and Borders focusing on three key areas of the contemporary migration routes:

- Gibraltar
- Serbia
- Levant

For this purpose the peculiar relationship between Borders and People is illustrated with a sequence of three distinct maps:

- Borders without People
- Borders with People
- People without Borders

This novel perspective of a seemingly familiar representation, with each component of the couple shown separately and juxtaposed to their combined illustration, questions the articulation and pertinence of our present predicament.