ROGER
EBERHARD
'The fluidity and impermanence of borders'.
Swiss photographer, Roger Eberhard, spent over three years traveling to, often unexpected, parts of the world, photographing specific locations for this project. His interest was to seek out border lines that have shifted over time. Some have moved by only a few metres, whilst others experienced considerable conversions.
Eberhard’s apparently serene images are presented in dialogue with texts describing historical events linked to the photographs. Whether these have been significant moments, or incidences that went unnoticed, each bear witness to change; from periods of peace to those of deep adversity. The ‘24th Parallel South’ (header image) is a potent example, representing the border established in 1866, from the Pacific coast to the Andes, between Chile and Bolivia. Under Chilean dictator, Augusto Pinochet, the country’s relations became tense. Pinochet hid land mines along the Chilean border out of fear of ground invasions. Thousands of mines remain buried and have so far injured or killed over 170 people.
Climate change has also led to new territorial alignments. Eberhard’s photograph ‘Furggsattel’ shows the Swiss mountain region in the Alps along its border with Italy. Due to global warming, the glaciers have shrunk considerably and shifted watershed boundaries. In fact, the photograph captures the top station of the ski lift to Furggsattel Glacier Zermatt, which used to lie in Italy, but due to these shifts is now in Switzerland.
The artist’s 42 locations visited and some 50 resulting photographs reveal the political and symbolic importance we put on these man-made demarcations, whilst highlighting their instable nature. They invite us to reflect on the territorial boundaries we draw between ourselves – bringing to light the paradoxical dynamic between our societal need for delimitations and the ever-changing landscape of geopolitics and topology.
“Borders are to be seen first and foremost as a means of separation. As a division between two sides, and as a definition of “here” and “there”... And, no matter all claims to permanence, there is nothing quite as mutable. It is indeed ironic that so many people [...] harbour such a sense of pride and protectionism with regard to their borders, even though these are fictitious entities in constant flux [...]”
_ ROGER EBERHARD
“I started this body of work with the intention to show the fluidity and impermanence of the political borders today.”
_ ROGER EBERHARD
“The locked borders across the world due to the outbreak of the corona virus made many people realize that borders and the policies concerning them are never quite set in stone. [...] This current situation, besides all the hardship and suffering, also sheds light on the fugacity of political borders.”
_ ROGER EBERHARD
“A line in the sand is not always a limit, as well as a border is not always a line in the sand. A line is geometry, a border is interpretation.”
_ HENK VAN HOUTUM
Roger Eberhard, ‘Human Territoriality’,
published by Edition Patrick Frey, 2020
