Utopian Nights: Inside the Border is today presenting Geography of Lives,a performance and series of photos by Alberto Favaro.

Favaro’s aim is to confute the idea that national borders are linear limits surrounding nations and that contemporary borders extend themselves outside and inside countries.

While they may not be built by bricks or fences, they are still effective, the artist believes. According to him, borders bring jurisdictional, administrative and economic limitations and real impediments for migrants to become fully-recognised individuals. He adds that far from being physical barriers, borders can be also considered as spaces in themselves: when imagining and mapping the extensions and thickness of these borders, the most likely configuration is not a fixed geographical one but an infinitive number of pockets trapping spaces and bodies. Constantly adjusting itself, the border keeps ‘the intruder’ outside, even if his or her body is geographically inside.

This performance has been created in collaboration with Florinda Camilleri.

Geography of Lives is taking place today and on Saturday at Howard Gardens in Msida at 6pm. Entry is free. For more information about the event, look up its Facebook page. For more information about Utopian Nights, which run until Monday, log on to www.valletta2018.org.