Art & Borders: Introduction

BIG_Review Art Editor Elisa Ganivet introduces the special section on art and borders

Everyday Lives in Peripheral Spaces: A Case of Bengal Borderlands

This article (part of a special section on South Asian border studies) is an ethnographic study of the daily lives and narratives of borderlands communities in the border districts of Cooch Behar and South Dinajpur along the West-Bengal–Bangladesh border. In order to emphasise the significance of borderland communities’ narratives and experiences to our understanding of borders, this paper explores the idea of borders as social spaces that are inherently dynamic. In attempting to understand the idea of borders through everyday lives of people living in borderland communities, this paper highlights tensions and contradictions between hard borders manifested through securitization practices, and the inherently dynamic social spaces that manifest themselves in people’s daily lives. Conceptually and thematically, this paper is situated within and seeks to contribute to the discipline of borderland studies. Key Words: Borders, Social Spaces, Security, Bengal Borderlands, South Asia

Murs frontières et virtualité

Dans le cadre de la section spéciale Art & Borders, l’artiste plasticienne Hélène Mutter interroge la perception des frontières étatiques par le biais de la post-photographie. Depuis l’accessibilité technologique de Google Earth, le flou des séparations entre les nations jurent avec l’appréciation physique et vécue du passage. On assiste à un aplatissement des réalités géopolitiques. L’artiste propose pour BIG_Review cet article inédit sur son projet photographique « Lines » qui avait été exposé au festival Fotolimo dont un article dédié est dans ce même numéro présenté

Frontières & Mythologies personnelles : un entretien avec Emeric Lhuisset

Connu pour son travail de terrain dans les zones de conflit, le photographe Emeric Lhuisset a été interviewé par Elisa Ganivet. En se concentrant sur les projets contextuels de l’artiste, ses expériences in situ sont révélatrices de dynamiques territoriales singulières. Des extraits de l’entretien sont reproduits ici, dans la section spéciale Art & Borders de cette édition La version anglaise a été publiée dans notre précédent numéro de BIG_Review.

The Land of Hope: Border, Evacuation, and Rejection During a Nuclear Crisis

Film review of Land of Hope (2012)

Rohingya Refugees in South Asia: An Exploration of Social Borders and the Margins

By reviewing the case of the Rohingya, a marginalized community in the postcolonial state of Myanmar, this article (as part of a special section on South Asian border studies) explores the perspective of Rohingya refugees and conceptualizes social borders from the voices of the refugees. Juxtaposing postcolonial borders with narrations of Rohingya in India brings out the politics of the marginalized communities in the country’s borderlands. The article shows how borderscapes are shaped for refugees that articulate ideas of social justice and recognition. Building on international studies of the Rohingya, I conducted fieldwork into the situation of the Rohingya in India. The resulting interviews add to our understanding of Rohingya refugees and address a scarcity of literature on the Rohingya in border studies. Through the analysis, I discover the history of the Rohingya identity in Myanmar, which contextualizes their statelessness. Social borders and state legislation reinforce barriers to citizenship and sharpen the exclusion of migrants, refugees, and other stateless peoples in South Asia. Keywords: South Asia, Refugees, Rohingya, post-colonial states, boundaries, borders, margins, Southeast Asia, marginal communities.

Rohingya Refugee Movement in Bangladesh: Insiders and Outsiders in Strengthening and Weakening of Borders

This paper examines the role insiders and outsiders play directly and indirectly in strengthening both territorial and psychological borders. At the same time, it also investigates how they undermine the existing boundaries of difference; in other words, how they weaken borders. This study understands ‘borders’ as both physical and cultural boundaries or visible and invisible boundaries of (re)producing and (re)ordering “us” versus “them” or insiders and outsiders. The conceptual framework developed by Azmeary Ferdoush (2017) has been employed to investigate the role of insiders and outsiders in strengthening and weakening borders. The Rohingya movement to Bangladesh case study is used to examine the paradoxical affects that both insiders and outsiders have on borders. This study aims to contribute the existing literature by explaining how borders are (re)produced and (re)shaped with the interaction of both the insiders and outsiders, with a specific focus on the implications of the refugee movement on border-making. Key Words: Border, Refugee Movement, Rohingya Refugee, Bangladesh.

Outline & Depth of Otherness: An Interview with Randa Maroufi

In this interview, as part of the special section Art & Borders, Art Editor Elisa Ganivet talks with the artist Randa Maroufi. The shore between Morocco and Europe is particularly questioned, along with Maroufi’s fine work around the more structural, societal and gender boundaries. Her research is synthesized by stagings where a strong and clear-sighted image predominates.

On the Passage of Existence: An Interview with Taysir Batniji

In this interview, produced in both English and French, as part of the special section Art & Borders, Art Editor Elisa Ganivet talks with the artist Taysir Batniji. The occasion of his exhibition at the Macval (France) allowed reflection on some of his long-term works and on his life path. The strength of ‘the idea’ prevails over the medium for a sensitive awakening to the state of a world simultaneously foreign and familiar.

Vanishing Act: Review of The Book of Disappearance

A book review of The Book of Disappearance by Ibtisam Azem, translated from the Arabic by Sinan Antoon, Syracuse University Press, 2019.