Borders and boundaries are distinct entities. In the age of migration that we now live, these distinctions take on new importance. In season 2016, the Street Art Museum has presented the large-scale exhibition reflecting the world migration crisis. «At a time in which notions of purity are resurgent, in
which ‘refugee’ and ‘crisis’ have become paired as if
natural, this exhibition probes
the edges which may be unstable but which are so too
more flexible, more adaptable. It explores the inherent
potentiality of the border, its diversity and multiplicity, its possibilities and powers», says Rafael Schacter, the curator.
Crossing Borders / Crossing Boundaries — Opening (2016/2016) by Street Art MuseumStreet Art Museum
If capital can move so freely why can't bodies? (2016) by Gaia & Mata Ruda (US)Street Art Museum
A monumental work in the tradition of political muralism is an assemblage of figures and artefacts which together convey a dense narrative about contemporary migration.
Incomprehensible (2016/2016) by Kirill Kto (Russia)Street Art Museum
Focusing on the barrier of language and the complexity of translation, the work by Kirill Kto is about the impossibility of understanding and the unwillingness to understand.
Lost in a dream (2016/2016) by Merijn Hos (Netherlands)Street Art Museum
Merijn’s five globes show us the development from a basic binary of black and white to a densely coloured, intricate space. The final image thus shows us a planet in which everything is harmonized.
Satellite shadow (2016/2016) by James Bridle (UK)Street Art Museum
A life-size representation of an actual satellite which acts not only as an image of the borderless space, but also of the hidden technologies that literally and metaphorically envelop us.
Flag for no nations (2016/2016) by James Bridle (UK)Street Art Museum
The installation brings together the multiple histories of the today eponymous “space blankets” — from their primary usage by NASA to their use by refugees on the borders of Europe.
Double yippie hollow super power (2015/2016) by Brad Downey (US) & Igor Ponosov (Russia)Street Art Museum
The Russian and the American artists play with the sacrality of the national symbols, mocking the stereotypes about each other.
Dots (2016/2016) by Jazoo Yang (Korea)Street Art Museum
For this work, Jazoo Yang has used traditional Korean ink and just her thumbprint (which is a marking used as a signature on important documents).
The final frontier (Space) (2016/2016) by Clemens Behr (Germany)Street Art Museum
Playing with the shadows and design of the adjacent stairs, Behr questions the boundaries of art itself: Can it go beyond reflection to truly generate the new?
Our house (in the middle of the street) (2016/2016) by Clemens Behr (Germany)Street Art Museum
With the classic symbol of borders, the common doorway, the work explores the abilities of these structures: as one door opens, another closes, enabling some and disabling others in the same moment.
Untitled (2016/2016) by Nano4814 (Spain)Street Art Museum
Nano’s characters can often be seen to be in states of tension or strain (both literally and metaphorically), an angst reinforced by their compressed captivity within their sites.
Four zero (2016/2016) by Superproject (Jasper Niens and Thijs Ewalts) (Netherlands)Street Art Museum
This work is about revealing and concealing, possibility and difficulty; once people enter the space, they can either feel locked up or protected and safe within its embrace.
A revolution nobody cares about (2016/2016) by Filippo Minelli (Italy)Street Art Museum
Minelli's mural speaks, quite loudly, for itself.
Untitled (2016/2016) by Filippo Minelli (Italy)Street Art Museum
Minelli presents a series of WhatsApp conversations documenting his personal struggle to gain entry into Russia for this exhibition.
Painting blocks (2016/2016) by Jazoo Yang (Korea)Street Art Museum
Exploring the violent so central to the contemporary city, Yang wants to ask how much we perceive our lives and make independent decisions within these oppressive environments.
Basket (2016/2016) by SpY (Spain)Street Art Museum
SpY’s works do not simply invert or subvert their spaces but playfully distort them: by his own words, it's “disorder and chaos through context and content”.
Сrisis (2016) by SpY (Spain)Street Art Museum
Go home (2016/2016) by SpY (Spain)Street Art Museum
SpY's giant work Go Home, at first an apparently aggressive phrase, plays with the variety of meanings that this expression can contain: for instance, the very ability to go home.
1001th island: The most sustainable island in archipelago (2015/2016) by Tita Salina (Indonesia)Street Art Museum
This installation connects the land issue of Jakarta with the human waste that plagues the ocean and the future of the traditional fishermen who live and work within this now perilous space.
Random geopolitical map (2016/2016) by Eltono (France)Street Art Museum
Eltono’s mural is a reaction to the absurd rationality of national boundaries. He has created his own world map using a generative art technique, a basic randomizer.
Upside-down fence (2016/2016) by Eltono (France)Street Art Museum
For the artist, the inversion of the fence makes it something lighter, not an object that prevents our movement, but a compact object that can be upended “as if the wind had blown it upside down”.
In danger, not dangerous (2015/2016) by Alex Kurunis (UK)Street Art Museum
The images presented by the photographer were taken in August 2015 in the Greek island of Kos, which is one of the key landing points for refugees crossing into Europe from different countries.
Вorderline, frontiers of peace (2016/2016) by Valerio Vincenzo (Netherlands)Street Art Museum
By Valerio Vincenzo: “Since the Schengen Agreements in 1985, the borders of most of the European continent have been erased from the landscapes and people’s imaginations. What is a border anyway?”
The 'Jungle' (2016/2016) by Rob Pinney (UK)Street Art Museum
Text by Rob Pinney: “As the main point of departure for travel to Britain, the town of Calais in northern France has become a ‘hotspot’ for asylum seekers hoping to build a new life in the UK“.
Left behind: life and death along the U.S. border (2016/2016) by Jonathan Hollingworth (US)Street Art Museum
These images not only give voice to the voiceless but also identity to the unidentified. In this way, the dead may once more help the living.
The Street Art Museum (2016/2016) by Kuril Chto (Russia)Street Art Museum
This project tries to imagine how the Street Art Museum would look like if it was more traditional. Kuril Chto team has collected all objects used by the artists during the production in one space.
Tap to explore
The shooting from one of the big-scale music festivals that took place at the Street Art Museum in July 2016.
Curator of the «Crossing Borders / Crossing Boundaries» exhibition — Rafael Schacter
Director of the Street Art Museum — Andrew Zaytsev
Artists — Alex Kurunis (UK) / Brad Downey (US) / Clemens Behr (DE) / Eltono (FR) / Filippo Minelli (IT) / Gaia (US) / Igor Ponosov (RU) / James Bridle (UK) / Jazoo Jang (KR) / Jonathan Hollingsworth (US) / Kirill Kto (RU) / Martha Athienza (NL) / Mata Ruda (US) Merijn Hos (NL) / Nano 4814 (ES) / Rob Pinney (UK) / Spy (ES) / Superproject (NL) / Tita Salina (ID) / Valerio Vincenzo (NL)