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In early 2002, Swiss photographers
Alban Kakulya and Yann Mingard travelled along the length
of Europe's new frontier in the East - from the Adriatic
to the Baltic - starting at opposite ends and meeting in
the middle. The resulting exhibition is a striking record
of European history in the making.
Through their photographic journey, Kakulya and Mingard have addressed
a range
of significant questions: What is happening today in a zone where people, who
have been accustomed to the standards of the Ancient Regime, are suddenly expected
to follow the rules of the European Union? What happens when a former no-man's
land becomes a free zone? Will the iron curtain be restored or replaced by a
high tech surveillance barrier?
As photographers, they have documented, point by point, GPS in hand, the actual
state of this border - one that has been subject to two World Wars and numerous
lines drawn, arbitrarily or not, by those who have made the map of Europe and
influenced history. In addition to the geographical aspect of their project,
Kakulya and Mingard took a series of portraits of the people directly concerned
with and affected by this border.
Today, more than ten years after the fall and decline of the iron curtain, new
reinforcement measures are being put into place. The buffer zone that was formerly
made up of the 'sister countries' of the URSS, is slowly becoming the European
Union's buffer zone against illegal immigration and various kinds of illegal
traffic. From North to South, the countries who will be affected include
the
Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, the Russian enclave of Kalingrad,
Poland, Romania and Slovakia. Most of them are scheduled to join the European
Union between 2004 and 2006.
Borders is shown in collaboration with Panos Pictures, London. |
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| All images © Alban Kakulya & Yann Minguard |
