Worlds Without End: Stories Around Borders
Published by Hugh Lane Gallery
[Image Description: To the left of the image is an outline of Pangea. To the right of the outline are the words “Worlds Without End” and “Stories Around Borders” in black text. Both the outline and text are on a yellow background. Bordering the right side of the image is a thin strip of orange followed by a thicker strip of red. ]
Hugh Lane Gallery presents the international group exhibition Worlds Without End - a rich and diverse series of visual stories centered around borders and the mindset of borderisation.
Historically, borders tend to be the location of international trouble spots. Prior to the global lockdown, there was a utopian vision of open borders, complicated by a populist push towards border fortification. This dichotomy has now been eclipsed by a pandemic that doesn’t respect borders. Politicisation of the pandemic, displacement of people, and restricted travel, as along with the drive towards an ever-increasing economic globalisation, have created further complex contradictions.
The curatorial idea for the exhibition Worlds Without End (WWE) was first conceived in 2019 as a research-based collaboration between Sara Reisman, Executive & Artistic Director of the Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation, New York and Michael Dempsey, Head of Exhibitions, Hugh Lane Gallery, who are the co-curators of WWE.
WWE opens a visual dialogue on the impact of borders on individuals and communities. The twelve participating artists - Lieven De Boeck, Elaine Byrne, John Byrne, Tony Cokes, Chto Delat, Dor Guez, Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Dragana Jurišić, Ari Marcopoulos, Raqs Media Collective, Dermot Seymour, Mark Wallinger - are drawn from different regional traditions and challenge our perceptions of national identities, envisioning utopian possibilities for understanding the place of borders, their proliferation and seeming obsolescence, in contemporary society. The exhibiting artists reveal their deep interest in current geo-political positions and social conditions with works that interrogate power structures, positions of privilege and human rights issues. The artists’ concerns also extend to those established borders which cut through communities and neighbourhoods, bringing frustration, anger, suffering and death.
For access to a pdf version of the exhibition’s catagloue, please click here.