I can change by exchanging with the other and still not lose or distort myself. That is why we need borders, not as places to stop at, but as the point at which we may exercise that right of free passage from the same to the other; savour the wonder of here and there

Edouard Glissant (EG)

The presence of physical boundaries, although sometimes invisible, has given room to the existence of numerous social boundaries such as race, gender, and religion. Borders have a great impact on how we live, view and relate to ourselves and others all of which are limiting to ourselves and others intentionally or not. By learning from the celebration and way of being within the Nigerian cultural context, which is communal rather than economical, we begin to deconstruct the ideas of borders.

Historically, humans have always moved fluidly between spaces without constraints although such can’t be said for these times. The maps have changed numerously overtime accentuating the non-fixity of borders. Borders, in fact, are a political and social construction, and they are contextualised historically and geographically. The colonial pursuits emphasised the demarcation of borders between white and black to allow slave trade. My personal experiences with the issues of easy access to places by the parties who colonised certain countries and a lack of by those who were colonised personally being one of those parties has led to my research on this topic.

The traditional festivals are celebrations native to various tribes within Nigeria and are a physical embodiment of the term ‘Ubuntu’, described by Michael Onyebuchi Eze as belonging to each other, 'we are because you are, and since you are, I am. Festivals are communal, boundary-less and open to all regardless of class, tribe, religion, gender and age. All individuals come together as a unit annually to celebrate the culture, ideas and the processes that have all worked together to achieve this being the earth and the people. The Masquerade dance, a performance which takes place at festivals is an expression of acceptance, freedom, joy, love and unity. The dance goes beyond oneself and emphasises the deep-rooted history of the community. These methods of celebration and being, encourage us to be more open and accepting of things we don’t understand as well as the duality and multiplicity these movements bring about.

Drawing from studies of the pre-colonial methods of storytelling, as well as the works of Julian Knoxx, Lawrence Abuhamdan and archival images, I have developed a code from which I will create a collection of moving pictures, exploring audiovisual and circular methods of storytelling. This story explores the topic of moving as a communal experience showing experiences of borders and celebration across borders. The idea of multiples through re-using found footage to tell different stories will be a major storytelling method. High angles, low angles and eye level angles of recording will be a key method of exploring the boundaries within the camera while zooming in closely to capture the facial expressions and body language of the characters. The circle is something that is commonly found in pre-colonial methods of storytelling. This will be referenced though the continuous organisation of this video with no beginning or end.

References Glissant, E. (2006) Esthétique. Paris: Gallimard. Leak (2023) Borders in everyday life, KTL - Karelian Institute. Available at: https://blogs.uef.fi/ktl/2017/12/01/borders-in-everyday-life/
Eze, B., Eze, M. and authors, A. the (2018) I am because you are, The UNESCO Courier. Available at: https://courier.unesco.org/en/articles/i-am-because-you-are