Welcome to Borderland

0047
Oslo

As the affairs of Norway and Russia are getting more and more intertwined, the borderland is where these intertwinings find its physical form. It is the showcase of the Russian-Norwegian relationships, and a micro cosmos of the grand Barents region. This is where the petroleum establishment in Norway has found its new playground. This is where the power struggle between the Russian military, FSB and its new energy elite will show who is on top. This is where mining giants find the origin for its billion dollar profits. And at the same time it is home to more than 53 thousand border citizens.

The borderland has been a stage for world wars, border disputes, cold war tension and a continuous experiment in control and surveillance. But in spite of this, ties across the borders have prevailed throughout history. It is now time to see what the border citizens have long seen: the borderland as one.

The borderland bears many different meanings; a politically supercharged area, an international system cocktail, a militarized territory, a common historic landscape and an increasingly strategic space in the development of the Barents sea. By showing this area and viewing the Russian and Norwegian borderlands as one, hopefully one change the perception of this part of the world, and one can begin a discussion on an alternative use of it, an alternative future. The time that could very well be the turning point in history, when the rationale of the border towns merges with the national state’s agenda, is slowly emerging.

Team: Espen Røyseland, Øystein Rø, Tanja Bergqvist, Håvard Breivik and Denis Shirshov.

Welcome to Borderland

Murmansk

Rovaniemi

Moscow

Oslo