Borderlight lights borders up to transform them from transit areas into meeting and socialising places.
“È la luce che disegna il buio
o è il buio che disegna la luce?”
Corrado Maltese
In its urban style, Milano shows visible traces of the limits of its ancient inhabitants that have marked the centuries of the city: Roman, medieval and Spanish walls, doors and waterways.
Now these limits have changed into spaces that represent history and have been replaced by a mix of borders, also borders inside the city: borders among rural and urban dimensions, economic and social differences, passages, remaining spaces and architectural barriers, able to challenge all levels of ability.
And you, where would you like to shape the night?
This is the key question, that Borderlight Collective ask people (Borderlight literally means “light of border”).
This group of artists and designers started the participatory project with the same name (Borderlight) to involve people in a new way of storytelling about Milan, using light as an artistic tool to explore and reinvent the city.
The implementation of light installations is a part of Borderlight, whilst alongside with these site-specific interventions, the Collective Borderlight creates performances, workshops, collaborative city mapping, photographies and explorative tours of Milano.
Borderlight Collective represents every activity, starting from the experience of those who experience these borders. The aim is to reintegrate the borders to the imagination of the city, with a structured approach that consists of an artistic survey of the territory in the form of a collaborative mapping.
The “offline” survey is transformed into a “live” survey, including:
*An online questionnaire to point out their area:
https://it.surveymonkey.com/r/borderlight
*The storytelling in the form of a map:
http://maps.nonriservato.net
On this map, contributions and progress can be tracked; the map is constantly updated, taking into account the reports. The map came about from a collaboration between the DAStU Department of Politecnico of Milano, the Department of Anthropology of the Università degli Studi Milano Bicocca and the network of Non Riservato, as part of the project of Fondazione Cariplo.
In 2016, during Fuorisalone the project was launched at Ponte delle Gabelle in the Brera District, with the partnership of Brera Design District and with the contribution of Fondazione Cariplo and the institutional partnership of the City of Milano.
In April 2017, Borderlight created two light installations at Santeria Social Club and at Mare Culturale Urbano; in May and in June 2017 the Collective created two site-specific installations during the event “Pixel-Picnic” at Parco Sempione and during “Smart-It” at Anfiteatro della Martesana.
In September 2017, the artists of the Collective started to involve citizens and City Halls of Milan, exploring and finding 8 special places through 8 artistic surveys.
In every City Hall, Borderlight launches a programme with artistic projects, starting with the choice of one place, where the installation has been set up, a like a flag to show the presence of the project.
The opening of the artwork consists of the presentation of Borderlight and its involvement of the districts, non-profit organisations and citizens. People point out places where they would like to “bring the light” and decide if and how to participate in the artistic interventions that will follow.
The programme of Borderlight involves the whole city, thanks to the support and the collaboration of various entities and specific cultural subject.
Borderlight #9 Luci di Passaggio
City Hall 9, green area Butti-Guerzoni in collaboration with Rob De Matt e Tingo Design
Borderlight #8 Dell’arte del margine
City Hall 8, Piazzetta dell’Incontro, via Alex Visconti
Borderlight #7 Dell’arte di raccontare un luogo
City Hall 7, Mare Culturale Urbano
Borderlight #6 L’immagine come confine
City Hall 6, Biblioteca Lorenteggio
Borderlight #5 Dell’arte d’andare a caccia di confini
City Hall 5, Civica Scuola di Teatro Paolo Grassi, Parco Ravizza
Borderlight #4 Dell’arte di amare il cielo notturno
City Hall 4, Biblioteca Calvairate
Borderlight #3 Dell’arte di raccontare un luogo
City Hall 3, Auditorium Stefano Cerri, via Valvassori Peroni 56
Borderlight #2 Dell’arte di scolpire la notte
City Hall 2, Quartiere Adriano (on the occasion of the programme of Fondazione Cariplo “La città intorno”), Biblioteca Zara, Biblioteca Crescenzago, Cascina Turro, Anfiteatro Martesana
The selected places on the map that emerged from this process will be object of a study for the final phase of the project Borderlight, expected for 2018.
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