2023/24
Bauhaus University Weimar
Bauhaus University Weimar
Pera
Porous Borders/Bordür
Porous Borders/Bordür
Prof. Mona Mahall,
Prof. Asli Serberst,
Yelta Köm
Prof. Asli Serberst,
Yelta Köm
Team
Pera Collective
Pera Collective
The project deals with the f(r)iction of sharp, thin, and linear borders that are drawn between the One and the Other (nation, gender, life) and that result from processes of Westernized modernization. These borders, enforced by factual and representational practices, such as bureaucracy or cartography, enable the discrimination between certain territories, sovereignties, and cultures.
The weaving maps the supposed outer borders of the European Union, visualising a contradictory line that has never been static, although it has often been treated as such. Thus, the outline of the European Union is extremely ambiguous and sensitive, reflecting specific power relations through limited accessibility and isolation. Currently, their borders are sharp, as they are intensively monitored and controlled, while they are equally fractured by historical and contemporary entanglements between places, beings and practices.
Choosing the medium of hand weaving to visualize these borders allows us to question their sharpness. A woven map cannot be sharp, but rather soft. It addresses the crossing of borders, as the term weaving means to move from side to side. The woven map takes the form of a bordür, which describes a soft and flexible border made up of repeating decorative elements rather than a straight, linear line. In this way, the mapped outline of the European Union is represented as porous border, drawing on the symbolic, metaphorical and applied meanings of the transcultural practice and the linguistic terms of weaving.
The weaving maps the supposed outer borders of the European Union, visualising a contradictory line that has never been static, although it has often been treated as such. Thus, the outline of the European Union is extremely ambiguous and sensitive, reflecting specific power relations through limited accessibility and isolation. Currently, their borders are sharp, as they are intensively monitored and controlled, while they are equally fractured by historical and contemporary entanglements between places, beings and practices.
Choosing the medium of hand weaving to visualize these borders allows us to question their sharpness. A woven map cannot be sharp, but rather soft. It addresses the crossing of borders, as the term weaving means to move from side to side. The woven map takes the form of a bordür, which describes a soft and flexible border made up of repeating decorative elements rather than a straight, linear line. In this way, the mapped outline of the European Union is represented as porous border, drawing on the symbolic, metaphorical and applied meanings of the transcultural practice and the linguistic terms of weaving.