Our regular No Borders cooperative art project: Art of integration – Integration of Art, brings together refugees, local artists and art students in an intense workshop whose outcome is then shared with the greater public through a traveling exhibition.
Context
The art project started in 2015 in part as a reaction to the backlash on the part of public opinion against refugees coming through Croatia. Misinformation in the media (including social media), fuels the atmosphere of fear and mistrust. The No Borders project is meant to answer directly to this atmosphere of fear to create one of greater understanding between different people. The collaborative art project involves artists and refugees, and seeks to reexamine questions of identity, prejudice and borders between people, within ourselves and the world in which we live. It also serves to enrich the creative artistic potential of each person.
The outcome of No Borders 2015 collaboration, under the mentorship of Niko Črncević and Maja Subotić was shared with the wider public through an exhibition. Please view pictures and news coverage.
The second edition, No Borders 2016, took place with mentor Iva Valentić leading a group of 13 artists including seven refugees in the technique of Chinese ink on rice paper. The original exhibition took place on 31 October (pictures) then traveled to Dugo Selo and in January 2017 to the U.S. embassy in Zagreb. Both for the first exhibition in 2015 and the one at the embassy, Okus Doma provided the food. One of our members also made a video.
For No Borders 2016 alone, an estimated 300 people attended all three exhibitions with several hundred more viewing the pictures, announcements and news features on our social media.
The No Borders 2017 Art Project started with a workshop during the first weekend of June resulting in the exhibition on 5 June lasting until 10 June. For pictures of the process and exhibition, please view pictures and the announcement.
The project is part of the international symposium “Frontiers: Separation, Transition and Sharing.” A special thank you to the Institut Français, whose support has made this edition of the project possible and to Solidarna – Foundation for Human Rights and Solidarityfor for the ongoing support for all our No Border Programs through their Dobri Domaćini (Good Hosts) grants.
No Borders Traveling Exhibition & Workshop
From the inception, for us, the process itself, the interaction between diverse people, engaging within and between themselves, is the art out of which artworks are created. As such, having participants traveling and sharing their experience with others in different parts of Croatia, was key.
In 2018 we go beyond Zagreb and the surrounding areas. Both the art from the last two No Borders and participants will travel to Pula (9-10 June), Split (15-16 June), Otočac (1-2 September) and Dugo Selo (13 October). Our partners in this project are Info zona in Split, Omladinska udruga Podum in Otočac, Udruge PANK Platforma Aktivnih Nezavisnih Kreativaca in Pula and Stari Krovovi in Dugo selo.
Our No Borders Traveling Exhibition: Art of integration – Integration of Art is realised through the Clubture network program (CTHR) with donations from the Ministry of Culture, Foundation Kultura Nova, the City of Zagreb, and the National Foundation for Civil Society Development through their project Knowledge Hubs.
Next step of the Cooperative No Borders Art Project
The number of participants, length of the workshop, and reach of the exhibition is contingent on available resources.
For the future we would like to expand on what we already do to other parts of Croatia. Ideally we would be able to reach areas of Croatia that do not often have the opportunity to interact with refugees but are just as exposed to the media.
We would also like to be able to run the cooperative art project more than once a year in order to involve more participants and greater interaction with the public.
We are working on a collection of pictures and stories related to the art project that will be part of a book.
If you are interested in helping to support the No Borders Program, please consider a donation. Thank you.