Mejnosti / Borderlines Photography Exhibition

From 19 September, GONG Gallery and EPICenter will host the international photography exhibition entitled Mejnosti / Borderlines.

The international photography exhibition entitled Mejnosti / Borderlines features fourteen selected authors from Slovenia, Italy, and Austria: Uroš Acman (SI), Goran Bertok (SI), Vincent Forstenlechner (AT), Christoph Grill (AT), Markus Guschelbauer (AT), Valentina Iaccarino & Pietro Peresutti (IT), Giulia Iacolutti (IT), Roberto Kusterle (IT), Branko Lenart (AT), Marko Lipuš (AT), Eva Petrič (SI), Gregor Radonjič (SI), and Filippo Venturi (IT). The curators of the exhibition—born from a collaboration between the GONG Gallery in Nova Gorica and Photon Gallery in Ljubljana—are Nataša Kovšca and Dejan Sluga.

The exhibition at the GONG Gallery will open on Friday, 19 September, at 18:00, and at EPICenter at 19:00. The exhibition will stay opened until 25 October 2025.

The theme of this group exhibition, which includes artists from Slovenia, Italy, and Austria, is conceptually rooted in the Nova Gorica area, where the border emerges as a multi-layered phenomenon. Its content does not refer solely to the border as a physical division—which, especially in the post-war period, has indelibly influenced life in the border area—but also explores the notion of "borderlines" in the contexts of social status, sociology, psychology, and gender. It draws on the fundamental definition of a border as the act of distinguishing and defining the "other"—someone standing opposite us or perceived as different, less worthy, less "civilized".

The extraordinary historical moment in which we live confronts us with numerous significant challenges—ecological, health-related, political, and, in recent times, unfortunately, also military. Pandemic restrictions, the complex issues of migration, and the actual wars on Europe’s eastern and southern borders present major challenges for artists as well as for exhibition organizers. This exhibition aims to broaden the understanding of borders and borderlines, subtly including pressing social issues with a focus on current events and phenomena. We are particularly interested in metaphorical and conceptual approaches in contemporary photography, through which the authors investigate the visual and symbolic potential of the medium. At the same time, the project includes high-quality documentary works that speak about the state of the world at this historical juncture. At a time when migration, pandemics, and wars have once again drawn new barriers, the exhibition opens a space for reflection, empathy, and critical understanding of the world around us.

The exhibition project is structured into several thematic sections, each dedicated to different categories of "borderlines": from physical and symbolic boundaries that become permanently inscribed in the lives of communities and individuals, to reflections on various manifestations of confinement, social restrictions, transitions/metamorphoses, and extreme psychological states.

The exhibition is part of GO! 2025 official programme.

Photo: Vincent Forstenlechner