We are the Borderlands, artist in residency project in Strasbourg (FR)
The Strasbourg Two Banks Bridge is a symbol of a united Europe and proof that within the territory of the European Union it is still possible to cross a national border without any control. However, today this experience is increasingly becoming a privilege, while the borders around us are tightening rapidly. In 2025, controls were introduced at the Polish-German border, where racial profiling has become a routine practice. The ongoing crisis at the Polish-Belarusian border has already claimed many victims among people seeking refuge in Europe, whose asylum applications are being denied.
The work created during my residency in Strasbourg is a narrative that synthesizes these contexts in a place where the existence of a border still remains almost imperceptible.
I focus on the bridge designed by the French architect Marc Mimram as a contemporary symbol of a transnational connection between France and Germany. It is also an important symbol of European solidarity, one that acquires new significance in the contemporary context of tensions surrounding borders and migration, as well as the ongoing war in Ukraine.
The visual layer of the video is a performative action involving a patchwork made of silk fabric, hand-dyed in shades of ultramarine, the colour of the European Union flag, and patterned, colourful textiles: fragments of women’s dresses and scarves. Using their transparency, I look at the bridge from behind a veil, giving the observed space a coloured filter.
The work was produced as part of the cross-residency between the Gdańsk Contemporary Art Center and the City of Strasbourg.
Sound design: Alex Banaszkiewicz
