Dissolving Borders: art as multi-cultural dialect

Emilia Telese

When countries and contexts converge in a mutual endeavour to create dialogue, one of the first issues they encounter centres around creating language. Neighbouring communities of the world naturally create dialects, making hybrids of their respective languages to reflect their will to communicate sympathetically. In its Greek derivation, the term dialectics is described as the investigation of truth by discussion (1). In this sense, collaborative art can be defined as a form of dialectics, when the process of searching for truth generates a continuous, fertile discussion between artists from different cultures. As this happens, the primordial concept of border, which causes the closing of dialogue, is crucially forfeited in favour of a more evolved concept of empathy, whose effects include the abandonment of the fear of the unknown, which is the premise for peace.

The decision to create a project involving artist groups in places as diverse as Berlin and Cumbria is significant in this context. International artists' networking is a dialectic step against cultural division, and it naturally allows more collaboration to flourish between the groups, as well as within them. This process can be considered a form of artistic creation in its own merit, where it signifies the destruction of borders and an opening to deep cultural change. As Cumbrian artist Paul Clark states, "Making the links becomes the art work as much as each new piece of work prepared for the exhibitions. This applies as much between UK and Berlin artists as between the UK artists as a group. The exhibitions are the vehicle for the artistic process of developing relationships, collaborations and networking. In the end it becomes the sum of all activity."

Emilia Telese is an artist based in the UK. Alongside her practice, she is Artists' Networks Coordinator for a-n The Artists' Information Company, through NAN (Networking Artists' Networks), an initiative that promotes the aspirations of artists and the development of practice through peer dialogue and exchange. She is Regional Council Member for Arts Council England, South East, and a specialist in the relationships between arts, society and economics.

(1) T. F. Hoad, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, 1996