Authors

Discussion

Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Finland has been one of the most consistent countries in expressing its position. Its vehement rejection of Russia's actions and the severing of trade and cultural ties with its once closest partner have led to a major restructuring of the country's political and economic life and, naturally, have had an impact on its culture and the lives of Finland's Russian-speaking population. In November 2023, all border crossing points on the land border with Russia were closed and remain closed indefinitely. The construction of a wall between Finland and Russia has become a national project.

I would like to dedicate my presentation to describing the results of a theatre-pedagogical workshop focused on the experience of Russian-speaking migrants with the closure of the border. The workshop is scheduled for November 2025, will take place in Helsinki and is open to Russian-speaking adult emigrants. In planning the concept for this art-educational event, I am guided by Sutapa Chattopadhyay's statement: "Increased surveillance outside and inside sovereign states, indeed, indicates that borders are [...] written on human bodies: bodies carry borders but also make borders. Borders are not only related to the politics of delimitation or classification of culture, but also to certain expressions of identity, memory, and the politics of representation."

Using performative research, social choreography, body mapping and storytelling in my artistic research, I hope to ‘talk’ (dance/draw) with participants about how demarcation (bordering/limitation /cutting off), the building of the wall, the very concept of ‘wall’ and it’s existence in our everyday life, affects the physicality of Russian-speaking migrants.

References

Chattopadhyay S. Borders re/make Bodies and Bodies are Made to Make Borders: Storying Migrant Trajectories // ACME: An International Journal for Critical Geographies, 2019, 18(1): 149-172

Jackson L. Experiencing exclusion and reacting to stereotypes? Navigating borders of the migrant body // Area, SEPTEMBER 2016, Vol. 48, No. 3 (SEPTEMBER 2016), pp. 292-299

Trinh T. Minh-ha (2011). Elsewhere, within here. Immigration, Refugeeism and the Boundary Event. Routledge.