Borders are everywhere. They are taken-for-granted lines on maps that indicate where one country ends and where another begins. They delineate territory and control the movement of people and goods. The dominant narrative insists that borders keep us safe. But from what, and from whom? What if borders are systems of power designed to divide, to dominate, to decide who gets to move, who gets to stay, and who is left behind? What if, as Gracie Mae Bradley and Luke de Noronha write, borders scar both land and our political imaginaries?
The evening opens with a speculative short film “EUphoria” (2018, dir. Robert-Jonathan Koeyers & prod. Black Speaks Back) beholding a future in which not Fortress Europe has closed its borders, but the continent of Africa. This is followed by talks, music and poetry that refuse to be confined, featuring Wanlov The Kubolor, Philsan Osman, Mohammed Badran, Roos Ykema, and Mohammed El-Kurd
About the Abolitionist Assemblies series
Inspired by abolitionist thinkers such as Ruth Wilson Gilmore and Sophie Lewis, Abolitionist Assemblies is a series of visionary gatherings where we build radical alternatives to current exploitative systems. Departing from the premise that the “white-Supremacist Capitalist Patriarchy” (hooks) continues to inform current politics, culture, and society, we use abolitionist thinking to critically interrogate the sanctity of borders, prisons, schooling, gender, the family, and more. Borderline States is our second edition, inviting both guests and audience to radically rethink the borders of our future through story, music, and speculative visions.
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