Border Dialogues – The Barents Art Triennial, is an international art project, which aims to mediate and explore questions and responses, experiences and feelings related to the concept of borders. The project is organised in different phases with activities such as exhibitions, community projects, texts, talks, travels, workshops and events or festivals, held in different places throughout the period of mid 2005 to mid 2006.

At the heart of the project are movements and the encounters between people. The border town Kirkenes is the point of departure. Previous experiences and activities of the project initiators, Pikene på Broen, (Kirkenes), and of the project partners are the references when embarking on this journey. Organisers are particularly interested in contemporary art in relation to their local societies and to the Barents region, with all the diversity and complexities it holds.

Kirkenes is located in the northeast of Norway on the border between Finland and Russia, in the Barents Region. The Barents Region includes the northernmost countries of Sweden, Finland and Norway and Northwest of Russia. Within this region there are a huge amount of structures, languages and cultures.The project aims to bring to light knowledge about borders and boundaries, with international art as a source, to people in the Barents region. At the same time, the project also aims to connect the particular context of the Barents region and its artists to other artists, places and contexts outside the region.

Taking an international art focus to focus on border issues and to discuss the theme of "indigenous people, national states and borders”, the triennial aimed to expose and make visible the physical, social and mental structures that define movements and thoughts of people. It studied different art strategies as well as the possible shape of a Barents Triennial. It consisted of art exhibitions, journeys, events, community art, artistic research, an environmental art workshop and a seminar, held in different places throughout the period of mid 2005 to mid 2006.

The history of the borders of this area, consequences of the nation building and indigenous peoples’ history, were important backdrops for this project. Through the project, organisers connected four places with similar histories on each side of the borders – Kirkenes (NO) and Murmansk (RU), the villages Neiden (NO) and Lovozero (RU). By inviting artists to work in the communities ahead of the opening event, organisers encouraged dialogues between the artists and people locally. The audience was introduced to excerpts from different dialogues, visually or verbally expressed. Interesting exhibitions reflecting the topics were on display.

An explosive sound event took place in Murmansk, with the most interesting electronic musicians from Murmansk, Mombus and Test Pressing, together with ADD from Petrozavodsk and the Vienna-based artists Franz Pomassl and Anna Ceeh.

The exhibition Next Door in Kirkenes consisted of seven projects and presentations of artistic practices that engaged, narrated and explored issues of transgression, exile, migration, community and self, all performed and enacted through the presence of real and imaginary borders.

Same, same but different was exhibited in Kirkenes and Lovozero. The works on display were created by Sami artists from the Nordic countries. They interpreted positions, suggested routes or possible repudiations and explored doubts, in response to a complex set of problems in relation to contemporary culture and identity. What is it to be a Sami? A publication continues the discussion around ethnic and national identities.

“Art in the Northern environment – The Neiden workshop” aimed to create real encounters with art in the Barents Region in general. In this workshop, Timo Jokela (Finland) included studies of the nature and culture of the area, and created site-specific pieces of art in Neiden Village, on the banks of the river. The result was an interesting combination of contemporary art, cultural history and magnificent nature experiences.

For two weeks before the opening, Laura Andersson Barbata did a community project in Kirkenes. Laura considers her primary influence to be her Mexican heritage, which has provided her with an awareness of continually changing social and environmental issues. Through her work as an artist, she looks for answers to the question: What can art do?

Several artists from various parts of the world worked in the region as part of Border Dialogues. The artist and architect Sami Rintala (Finland/Norway) worked in Kirkenes prior to the exhibition opening. He did preliminary work for the building of a completely new island off the coast of Kirkenes, a no-man’s island belonging to no one and everyone. He also did a project linked to The Barents Art Triennial.

Border Dialogues - The Barents Art Triennial was supported by EU Culture 2000, Arts Council of Norway, The Barents Secretariat, Sør-Varanger Municipality, North Norwegain Culture Council, Finnmark County Council, Office for Contemporary Art Norway, Nordic Culture Fund, Länsstyrelsen Västerbotten, Västerbottens läns landsting, KC Nord, Stiftelsen Längmanska kulturfonden, Bundeskanzleramt Kunst.