The first trial session of a workshop on Sovereign Borders
On the Liberation Day in the Netherlands, I ran the first trial session of a workshop on Sovereign Borders.
We live in a time when the principle of the inviolability of borders is no longer an unconditional norm. Without borders, there is no subject. Establishing boundaries does not limit freedom; it creates the form within which freedom becomes possible. But the border itself is also the place where freedom is most often violated.
The workshop consists of two stages. First, we tried to indicate and, through a symbolic act of hanging metal bows on the barbed wire, - to make visible what
makes sovereign borders vulnerable today. We tried to touch on different dimensions, from personal involvement to cultural responsibilities and geophysical mechanisms. Every point was followed by placing one bow on the symbolic border.
For example:
the rewriting of history in school curricula, comments by bots on social media, Russia’s participation in the Biennale, the banning of athletes at the Olympics for acts of solidarity and commemorating deceased athletes, the consumption of products or services from aggressor states, the romanticisation of aggressor states’ culture through mainstream entertainment, the absence of nuclear weapons, and so on...
For each of these points, we placed a bow on barbed wire.
In the second stage, we considered what might serve as an antidote or countermeasure to each of these points. One named - one bow goes down. Unfortunately, we ran out of time and were unable to reflect on all the points mentioned in the first stage this time. Nevertheless, it is a good tool for working through personal feelings of powerlessness through collective reflection and brainstorming. Even if we don’t have specific solutions, sometimes we’re just dreaming or fantasising.
I would like to continue holding similar sessions, but in a more focused & time-flexible setting. I invite anyone interested to join the next sessions at my Atelier. Please leave a comment if you’d like to join by mail (@) annakakhiani.com.
