Anchored in the history of humanity and always on the cutting edge of current events, this theme combines many of the questions considered by TOPO – as much political and social as physical and technological.

The notion of border is rich in historical, political, psychological, and artistic connotations. In its contemporary dimension, it is increasingly seen as a point of contact and of negotiation rather than simply as a barrier. Like the philosopher Regis Debray, we wish to “think the border not as a wall (demolished for expansion, erected for protection), but as a skin, capable of breathing and thus of organizing exchanges within environments” (Éloge des frontières, Gallimard 2013).

A Program of Exhibitions

The program is organized around three thematic cycles composed of exhibitions in the TOPO showcase on the ground floor of a creative hub – the Pôle de Gaspé (a first glass frontier) – workshops, performances, and artist presentations.

Cultures, Languages, and Spiritualities: Beyond Borders

The first cycle brings together four artists from the plurality of the Americas who explore the reconquest of roots and heritages, through questions about memory and death.

Martín Rodríguez, La Ofrenda, media installation

November 1st – December 21, 2019

ULO, Conversation with Falling Spheres, audio-tactile installation

January 16 – February 15 2020

Rodrigo Velasco, Niyolchoca, digital and visual poetry

February 21 – March 28, 2020

Diego Briceño, Dupu, touch-screen exploration

Accessible on demand

Remix and Networks: Challenged Borders

The second cycle of Frontière presents three installations that question technologies and their impact on our lives and societies – notably through their capacity to blur the boundaries between truth and falsehood, documentary and fiction, living and non-living.

Sven, Plongeons, augmented reality photographic project

September 9 – October 10, 2021

Oli Sorenson, Landscapes of the Anthropocen, LED screens and social networks campaign

November 11 – December 26, 2020

Stéphanie Morissette, Meanders, immersive web art project derived from a VR experience

From January 13, 2021

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Geopolitics: Variable Spaces

In the third cycle, the notion of geopolitics is explored through reflections on the associations between geography (human, material, territorial) and socio-politics, challenging spatial power relations in various ways.

Paolo Almario, Léviathan, interactive web art

From April 2021

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Leila Zelli, Day to day (Au jour le jour), web art and video

From June 2021

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Michel Huneault, On the Border, random and infinite documentary essay

From October 2021

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A Theoretical Reflection

Seven authors have been invited by TOPO to think more deeply about borders for a retrospective and analytic publication (paper and digital) to be released in 2022.

Three authors have specifically addressed the three cycles of installation programming and web art projects supported by TOPO between September 2019 and September 2021.

Nuria Carton de Grammont, curator

Spiritual Matters and the Meaning of the Other

Paule Mackrous, writer

Remix and Networks: Challenged Borders

Mirna Boyadjian, curator

Geopolitics: Variable Spaces

Four other authors formulate a broader reflection on the notion of border according to different approaches: political, aesthetic, psychological, and technological.

Ricard Zapata Barrero, theoretician and professor

The Current Semantics of Borders: Some Political Insights

Chantal Pontbriand, artistic director, curator, and editor

Migration and Frontier: An Aesthetics of Change

Jean-Dominique Leccia, psychiatrist

The Notion of the Border: From Mental to Spatial

David Jhave Johnston, researcher and digital poet

Brain-Machine-Implants [BMI]: Art, Opsins, and Models (a few ethical considerations)