BORDERS

Borders

Exchange Program

Galleri Centrala, Birmingham

Brexit, October 31th, 2019

1 November – 12 December 2019

Borders is an exhibition project, part of the ongoing cultural exchange between Studio 44, an artist-run gallery in Stockholm, and Centrala in Birmingham, addressing discourses on “Unity and division”. An initiative organized by Centrala. The goal of the collaboration is to share knowledge and ideas as a method to cross borders and to promote mobility.

The Digital Diaspora show was the first part of the exchange: an exhibition organized and curated by Short Circuit in partnership with Centrala and Studio 44. It provided an opportunity to reflect on the collapse of the Eastern Bloc and the unity of Europe, whilst taking place contrastingly during Brexit and other independence movements. The project laid particular emphasis on Europe and the current socio-political climate of the continent. It addressed key issues of migration, territory, cultural identity, belonging, isolation and borders. Borders is Studio 44’s contribution to the exchange, where thirteen artists from varying artistic fields, explore physical as well as abstract borders in modern-day Europe during times of social and political turmoil. The artists investigate how borders are created and perspectives established, and also how, with time, they shift and evolve. This method of sharing ideas and thoughts in a macro, as well as a micro perspective, can create new perspectives, experiences, and knowledge. Borders may limit and define our daily lives in various ways, but they also show us how we can reach a better understanding of ourselves, our modern times, and first and foremost; how we can co-exist. The Borders exhibition was held at Centrala/Birmingham in November and December 2019

Curator: Johan G. Enocson