Negotiating Borders Through Art

Convegno internazionale, 15-17 maggio 2026 presso gli spazi del Dipartimento delle Arti. Un ricco programma con docenti e artisti internazionali

Negotiating Borders Through Art

15–17 May 2026
Bologna

About the Conference

Artistic Mediation in Intercultural Contexts is an international conference exploring the complex relationship between borders and arts mediation through talks, masterclasses, performances, a workshop and an exhibition, held from 15–17 May 2026 at the Department of the Arts, University of Bologna.

The conference approaches the border not merely as a line of separation, but as a performative and political field where aesthetics, power, and everyday practices intersect. Historically embedded in the regulation of mobility, labour, and belonging, borders operate as technologies that produce social hierarchies and shape cultural representation. They structure not only space but also time, through systems of coordination and synchronisation that organise contemporary life.

From this perspective, the event investigates arts mediation as a situated practice that operates both within and against borders. Particular attention is given to the relationship between self-representation and intercultural mediation, examining how artistic practices can create spaces of visibility and agency for marginalised subjects while also interrogating the power dynamics embedded in processes of representation and cultural translation.

While maintaining a focus on theatre and performance, the conference adopts an expanded notion of performance to explore how borders are enacted, negotiated, and contested across artistic and social contexts.

Bringing together scholars and artists from diverse disciplines, the conference fosters interdisciplinary dialogue as a method of mediation capable of engaging plurality, conflict, and negotiation. The programme concludes with a participatory session involving guest speakers and emerging scholars, aimed at identifying new research trajectories at the intersection of performing arts and border studies.

Programme

May 15, 2026 | Palazzo Marescotti

13:00–14:30
Welcoming and registration

14:30–15:00
Salone Marescotti
Welcome Addresses
Riccardo Brizzi (Head of the Department of the Arts)
Opening Remarks
Rossella Mazzaglia (Conference Chair, University of Bologna)

15:00–16:30
Salone Marescotti
Keynote Opening Session
Fugitive Imagination
Shahram Khosravi (Stockholm University)
Chair: Sandro Mezzadra (University of Bologna)

16:45–18:45
Parallel Panels

Salone Marescotti
Panel 1: Decolonizing Artistic Processes
Pierluigi Musarò (University of Bologna), It’s the End of the World as we Know it. Cosmovisional Justice and Decolonial Narratives
Aleksandra Jovićević (Sapienza University of Rome), Decolonizing Europe
Azadeh Sharifi (Berlin University of the Arts), Beyond Belonging: Postmigrant theatre, artistic negotiations and nationhood
Wissal Houbabi (Independent Poet and Performer), Imperceptible
Chair: Rosaria Ruffini (Sapienza University of Rome)

Aula Secci
Panel 2: Border Imageries
Paulina Sabugal Paz (University of Bologna), Performing the Border: Representation, Subjectivity, and Power in Tijuana
Lorenzo Donati (University of Bologna), Social Narratives and Documentary Dramaturgy. A Place of Safety. Viaggio nel Mediterraneo centrale by Kepler-452
Jacopo Anderlini & Luca Giliberti (University of Parma), A Counterdictionary of the Border: Words and Images from the Central Mediterranean
Alicja Borkowska (Strefa WolnoSlova Foundation, Warsaw), Advancing Border: Imperium and the Strategies of Survival during Flight
Chair: Annalisa Sacchi (IUAV University of Venice)

19:15
Immersive Walking Performance
School of Ghost Fish - Along Invisible Passages
directed by Pietro Floridia, Cantieri Meticci
free, booking required: ufficio@cantierimeticci.it

May 16, 2026 | Palazzo Marescotti

09:00–09:15
Welcoming

09:15–10:45
Salone Marescotti
Keynote Plenary Session
Family Lines: Autofiction, Migration, and Intersectional Identity in Contemporary Theatre
Yana Meerzon (University of Ottawa)
Chair: Matteo Paoletti (University of Bologna)

11:00–12:30
Parallel Panels

Salone Marescotti
Panel 3: Blurring Social Borders
Giulia Innocenti Malini (University of Pavia), Working with Inner Boundaries: The Social Dramaturgies of Performative Community-Making
Rita Maria Fabris (University of Bologna), Border Tales: Bodies, Dances and Boundaries. A Decade of Action-research in Turin
Ofelia Balogun (Independent Dancer and Choreographer), Terra Intermedia: Body, Pedagogy & Territory in Motion
Chair: Aleksandra Jovicevic (Sapienza University of Rome)

Aula Secci
Panel 4: Relational Performance as Border Crossing
Giulia Allegrini (University of Bologna), Dialogic Arts between Mediation, Power, and Solidarity
Lola Olufemi (Poet and Performer, Goldsmiths, University of London), This is a temporal landscape, you will find no direction here
Annalisa Sacchi (IUAV University of Venice), Scenes of Hospitality. Conversation, Presence, and Relational Performance in DAAR’s Living Room Project
Chair: Elena Lamberti (University of Bologna)

14:00–15:20
Salone Marescotti
Screening
Pinocchio Nero (Black Pinocchio)
2005, 80’, IT, EN Subtitles

15:30–17:30
Salone Marescotti
Masterclass (IT)
Pensare i pensieri dell’altro (Thinking the Other’s Thoughts)
Marco Baliani (Actor, Director and Playwright)
Chair: Cristina Valenti (University of Bologna)

17:30–18:45
Salone Marescotti
Panel Discussion
Exposing Structural Borders. An Exchange among Artists Working with Embodied Visual Practices
Dora Garcia (Oslo National Academy of the Arts), Buffer Zone, Gray Area, Limbo, Twilight
Adelita Husni-Bey (Independent Artist and Pedagogue), Chiron: Screening (20’) and Talk
Chair: Massimiliano Nicola Mollona (University of Bologna)

20:30
DAMSLab
Urban Dance performance (20’)
Figlie della terra di mezzo (Daughters of the Middle Ground)
Ofelia Balogun
with the participation of Thiago Dos Santos
free and open to the public

21:30
DAMSLab / Theatre
Performance (60’)
The Ignorant Master
gruppe tag
Post-show discussion with the artists.
Chairs: Pietro Floridia (Cantieri Meticci, Bologna), Lorenzo Donati (University of Bologna)
free entry, subject to seat availability

May 17, 2026 | DAMSLab

09:30–18:00
Hall
Exhibition
HeART of Gaza
by Mohammed Timraz

09:30–11:15
Auditorium
Screening
Suppliants of Syria
2024, 105’, EN/AR/TR (with subtitles)

10:00–13:00
Workshop
Giving Shape to Mobility and Justice
Alicja Borkowska
for University of Bologna students: reservation required
booking: ufficio@cantierimeticci.it

11:15–13:15
Auditorium
Masterclass (EN)
30 Years on the Frontier. The Intercultural Theatre Practices of Border Crossings
Michael Walling (Theatre Director, Border Crossing)
Chair: Roberta Gandolfi (University of Parma)

14:15–16:15
Auditorium
Plenary Panel Discussion
Panel 6: Art within Borders
Rosaria Ruffini (Sapienza University of Rome), Thinking and Performing Resistance in Camps and Transit Migration
Pietro Floridia (Cantieri Meticci, Bologna), Importing Liminality: Participatory Characters, Border Practices, and the Construction of Heterogeneous Communities
Marina Barham (Theatre Director, Al Harah Theater), Theatre as Emotional Resistance and Healing. A Voice from Palestine
Chair: Rita Maria Fabris (University of Bologna)

16:15–18:15
Theatre
Participatory Meeting
Chair: Giulia Allegrini (University of Bologna)

18:15–18:30
Theatre
Closing Remarks
Rossella Mazzaglia

Organization

High-Degree Course: Artistic Mediation in Intercultural Contexts
Institution: Department of the Arts, University of Bologna

In collaboration with:
Cantieri Meticci
Fondazione Alma Mater
DAMSLab / La Soffitta
Danza Urbana

Conference Chair:
Rossella Mazzaglia

Scientific Committee:
Pietro Floridia
Roberta Gandolfi
Luca Giliberti
Elena Lamberti
Sandro Mezzadra
Massimiliano Mollona
Pierluigi Musarò

Organizing Committee:
Maura De Benedetto
Lorenzo Donati
Rita Maria Fabris
Rossella Mazzaglia
Marianna Santagata (Promotions manager)
Valeria Venturelli (Organizing secretary)

Supported by Articolture

Graphics:
Sara Pour

Contacts

For general information: af.mediazioneartistica@unibo.it
For booking:

Immersive performance School of Ghost Fish - Along Invisible Passages
Workshop Giving Shape to Mobility and Justice by Alicja Borkowska (only for University of Bologna students)

Email: ufficio@cantierimeticci.it

Funding

The conference is financed through the project "Mediazione Artistica Interculturale e Sviluppo Regionale Innovazione, Internazionalizzazione e Cultura per una Coesione Sociale" funded by Regione Emilia-Romagna – Rif PA: 2024-23135/RER – CUP: J33C24002200002 – Project n. 1.