PhD Seminar within the 2025 European Capitals of Culture and Pixxelpoint Festival
In 2025, Nova Gorica/Gorizia as much as Chemnitz act as European Capitals of Culture. Hosted within the
path-breaking framework of Pixxelpoint festival of contemporary art, the PhD seminar takes advantage of
this momentum to create a shared space for reflecting on borders through an inter- and trans-disciplinary
lens.
Understanding the notion of border
The overall aim is understanding how the notion of border shifted across historical periods, regions,
cultures and artistic practices. No matter whether the term ‘border’ designates a physical, metaphorical,
political, ethnic, linguistic entity, referring to temporal or spatial parameters, it always addressed a
boundary prompting a comparison and/or confrontation between two distinct entities. However, these
belong to a shared condition, may this be substantial or symbolic. Borders can be understood as a
threshold to pass or a boundary not to be trespassed, a critical point to be taken into account. Accordingly,
borders are also transitional areas where diversities meet, merge, engender new entities and elicit new
perspectives.
An inter- and trans-disciplinary scope
An inter- and trans-disciplinary scope accounts for similarities and bridges across distinct fields o
research (e.g.: Art History and Film Studies; Contemporary History and Migration Studies; Gender Studie
and Sociology of Work), to provide a more encompassing approach to historical, artistic, and cultural
reality. Borders are inherently opportunities for questioning received wisdom, opening up a space for
dialogue and collation, inquirying into crossroads and overlooked analogies
Organizers:
PhD programme in Art History, Film and Media Studies, Music (UniUd)
PhD programme in Cultural Heritage (UNG)
PhD programme in Humanities (UNG)
Confirmed keynote speakers: Shintaro Miyazaki (Humboldt University)
