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EuroBorderWalks is an inter-disciplinary, inter-institutional, European research project, funded by a Research Ireland Advanced Laureate grant. The overall aim of the research is to produce a biography of three borders at the edge of the European Union by conducting ‘bottom up’ research using ethnographic, biographical, relational and arts-based methods at the three borders to critically examine the very meaning, experience and practice of borders. Through a combination of walking biographical interviews, narrative interviews and arts based workshops, as well as three artist commissions, we will contribute to critical border studies and the mobilities field as well as European policy and education.
The project focuses on three (historically, politically and strategically) significant borders - Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Poland and Ukraine.
The NI/RoI border runs for 499km from Lough Foyle in the Northwest to Carlingford Lough in the Northeast and is the only land border between the EU and the UK. The border as an ideological, symbolic entity is deeply embedded in the psyche and culture of those living on the island of Ireland and especially those living in the border towns and places, that were often marked by violent struggle. Following the Good Friday Peace Agreement, the border was demilitarised. However, the UK exit from the European project brought to the foreground the ‘troubles’ between Anglo/Irish situation, the long history of colonialism, population exchanges, border changes, and religious tensions.
NI/RoI research team – Professor Maggie O’Neill, Conach Gibson-Feinblum and artist Michael Mcloughlin.
Poland/Ukraine border
The Polish/Ukrainian border has never been a permanent line of demarcation, but has been repeatedly negotiated and shifted as a result of political processes with the significant participation of third countries, including Britain, the United States and former and contemporary Russia (including the USSR period). The site around the border has, in turn, been constituted by a clash of cultural influences as well as the aspirations of peoples and ethnic groups to have their identity, religions and territorial claims recognised. After February 2022, the Polish/Ukrainian border became a critical point as a result of the war waged by Russia. It is estimated that more than 3.5 million people who have fled Ukraine in the wake of war have entered the EU at the Poland-Ukraine border. [would need to update figure if using this text]
Poland/Ukrainian research team: Dr Aleksandra Sobańska, and artist Marek Domański - supported by Prof. Agnieszka Golczyńska-Grondas, Prof.Katarzyna Waniek, Prof Tomas Ferenc. Supported by PI Professor Maggie O'Neill,
Croatia/Bosnia-Herzegovina border
The border between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina has a long history rooted in expansion of the Ottoman empire (15th century) as being a guardian of the walls of Europe because the border was considered a border between the two civilizations: European and Ottoman. This narrative is reinforced recently after Croatia’s accession to European union in 2013 and in 2023 as Croatia entered the Schengen regime. The movement of people on the move through the so called ‘Balkan route’ since 2015 onwards has led to discourses about Croatia as the last ‘frontier’ of the European Union. Croatia and Bosnia Herzegovina as bordering states share many different attributes, including the relatively recent history of being part of ex-Yugoslavia in the second part of 20th century. There are many linkages, at sociocultural level, socioeconomic connections, as well as family ties in both countries. The border between the two countries is not just divide, but also a bridge.
Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovinaresearch team: Postdoctoral researcher Dr Vladimir Ivanović, Professor Krešimir Žažar, both at the University of Zagreb, and artist Dr John Perivolaris, supported by PI Professor Maggie O'Neill.
As part of the EuroBorderWalks project, Conach Gibson-Feinblum is undertaking a PhD which explores the meaning, experience, and practice of the Irish border. Conach is based in the Department of Sociology in UCC, under the supervision of Professor Maggie O'Neill.
The project uses creative applications of the biographical research method in collaboration with artists commissioned to work with the researchers on the project.
Image: Tomasz Ferenc
(Motanka – traditional Ukrainian dolls)
Under the supervision of Professor Maggie O’Neill and Dr. Tracey Skillington, and advised by Dr. Michael McLoughlin, Conach works with a cross-border beekeeping association to better understand the meaning, experiences, and practices surrounding the Irish border. As part of the EUROBORDERWALKS project, she uses an approach called ‘ethno-mimesis,’ which combines ethnographic, biographical, and arts-based methods to create a biography of the Irish border.
Bio
Conach Gibson-Feinblum is a PhD researcher with the EUROBORDERWALKS project and an affiliated member of both the Institute for Social Science in the 21st Century (ISS21) and UCC Futures: Collective Social Futures at University College Cork, Ireland. She holds a Master of Arts in Anthropology from University College Cork.
Arts based methods are central to the Euroborderwalk project. These methods can capture the complex, sensory, embodied sense of lived experience and extend the relational and connective aspects of biographical research. Moreover arts based research that are relational and performative, combined with ethnographic and biographical research can bring something new into the world and offer a change-causing gesture, a radical democratic imaginary, a space for dialogue and reflection
Partners
This project is a partnership between the following universities.
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