Exhibition 20.12.2019-19.1.2019

Based on an idea by Serena Giordano, conceived and coordinated by Serena Giordano and Alba D’Urbano (HGB-Leipzig). Project assistant – Angelica Waniek. (HGB-Leipzig). Exhibition curated by Alba D’Urbano (HGB-Leipzig) Rosa Persico and Emilia Valenza (ABA Palermo)
In 2018 “Palindromes. Or the imaginary border”, which had begun with an invitation by the artist and teacher Serena Giordano to some of her colleagues, gave rise to an exchange project between Palermo and Leipzig to focus attention on the invisible boundaries that define the image of the “other” and of the “foreigner”, in “imagined collectivities” such as states and nations.
 
 

The consequences of the existence of borders are tragically evident for those persons to whom the right to movement and citizenship are denied. But what are the effects of this line of demarcation on those who, instead, live within the borders and can move freely? The two perceptions are closely connected: for migrants, borders are extremely concrete, while for those who enjoy basic rights, they are a set of conditions that could be summarized as “imaginary borders”. In addition to hindering people who do not have the right to enter a country, the border affects and limits even those who can physically cross it. The less visible the border is, the more concrete it is to those to whom access is denied.

Ever since its conception the project was intended to close the gap between two countries, Italy and Germany, in which the Fine Arts Academies of Leipzig and Palermo are located, and to try to establish closer relationships on the basis of the sharing of experiences and creativity.
Starting from the idea of conducting research within one’s own “imaginary” border or boundary, or within the internalized stereotypical image that “pre-figures” the “other” culture – in this case in a specular “Palindromic” game between Italian and German culture – after two semesters of work on the project, the students came to realize a series of inter-media and multi-media works that dealt with a range of themes correlated to the initial discourse, broadening them to include those current issues that they considered to be most relevant and pressing. Many of these works address the theme of the imaginary “media” border, while others pose the question of identity and nationality, and others examine the routes and pathways taken by refugees and migrants. Several videos that refer to issues of global poverty (which is often a cause of migration) are flanked by sculptures representing the struggle for the control of resources, the various forms of racism that currently prevail, and the physical perimeters that can be modified, in addition to installations regarding the environmental disasters that are often an inevitable consequence of all this. As a whole, the exhibition offers a panorama that is full of interferences and references, a network of connections and associations, which from a look at the private dimension expands to present us with a broader image of the social and political dimension that is however fragmentary, discontinuous and almost dystopic.

_{Copyright:
¹ Lennard Bernd Becker
² Rosa Persico
³ The artist of the work
⁴ Bernhard Bormann}

A project supported by the Department of Communication and Art Teaching of the ABA of Palermo, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the Erasmus Programme study grant system.