Approaches to the Spanish-Portuguese border through visual arts: three applications of “Border Art” as a research tool

Abstract

In this work we present key concepts for the study of borders in general, focusing on the Spanish-Portuguese border, through contemporary art. The final objective is to contribute to multidisciplinarity in the discipline of Border Studies using art produced in and on borders as a method, which means thinking and accepting artistic practice as research. To do this, we first situate ourselves in a chronology that maps the paradigm shift in border studies to its interest in cultural productions and we will define the basic characteristics of “border art.” Subsequently, we analyze three artistic projects carried out in the last two decades by artists who grew up living the consequences of the Schengen Agreement, so that we observe how new imaginaries are drawn around the Single European Area. At the same time, based on interviews with the authors and other written texts, we collect their motivations for approaching the border, the narratives and discourses they deploy, and the creation processes they carried out. In the conclusions, we verify that the artists contribute valuable reflections to the current debates on the Iberian borders through their works, from other formats and other motivations other than those of academics, building their own language of inquiry.