Performing the Border

Since 2014, Maria Kapajeva has documented various actions related to marking, crossing, or embodying borders, beginning with works created during the Bridge Guard Art Residency in Štúrovo. There, the bridge connecting Slovakia and Hungary reminded Kapajeva of the bridge between Narva and Ivangorod back home. Prompted by this association, she began experimenting with the camera, resulting in a series of actions that culminated in the disappearance of the self through the use of a mirror – literally dissolving the body into the border itself.

In 2022, when the question of borders once again came into focus in a new light, Kapajeva continued performing and documenting actions along the England–Scotland, Estonia–Latvia, and Estonia–Russia borders. In the video work, exhibited here for the first time, we see the artist taking on different roles over the years. Depending on the relationship between neighbouring states, different actions become possible. Some borders can be crossed physically – by swimming, on foot, or by car. Others can only be crossed imaginatively, poetically, or through humour.